Princes of the Universe: Born to be Kings
by dreamersrequiem
Summary: Sequel to Princes of the Universe. James, Sirius, Peter and Remus enter Hogwarts for their second year, with an unknown threat hanging over the wizarding world.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, the poll was very much one-sided. Seems everyone who voted wanted to see a sequel to Princes of the Universe. So, here it is, the second year of James, Remus, Sirius and Peter. Enjoy and, as always, reviews are very much appreciated. **

James Potter did not think of himself as a remarkable boy. As far as he was concerned, he was just like every other boy he knew, almost. His best friend was, in his eyes, much more creative when it came to mischief. Sirius Black was the one who would come up with strange and wonderful ideas. Then, there was his other best friend, a boy ten times smarter than any other child their age. Remus Lupin was the one who could pull a fact out at the touch of a hat, a boy who could recite a page from a book without even glancing at it for a reminder.

Lastly, there was the fourth member of their group. Peter Pettigrew. Although Sirius was witty and quick, and Remus was intelligent, Peter was, without a doubt, loyal. James knew he could trust Peter with his life.

Compared to them, James Potter did not think of himself as remarkable.

He inched towards the kitchen, wishing his parents were in bed already. He desperately wanted a glass of water, but they had been in the kitchen all evening, talking in hushed tones. They'd even sent him to bed early. He sank down beside the door and listened, mouth forming a frown as he tried to hear what they were saying.

"First Gawain, and now this?" his father whispered, letting out a deep sigh. James frowned, unable to help wondering what, exactly, had happened now.

"He's going to be so upset," his mother replied, her voice heavy. His frown deepened. "He adored him. Did you hear him talking about..."

James' breath caught in his throat when his mother stopped speaking. He felt his body relax, however, when he heard a tap at the window. Slowly, he moved, so he could see into the kitchen. To his surprise, an owl was at the window. His mother leaned forward and opened it, allowing the owl in.

It was odd, in itself; post was never delivered late. Although James had seen owls reach them well after the usual breakfast delivery time, even that had been rare. Now...

His mother reached forward and took the letter from the owl's leg, opening it and glancing over the page. She muttered something, before speaking more clearly.

"It's from the school, to the parents. Just to reassure us that...that what happened was outside Hogwarts, and the school is still open and safe."

"Of course it is. Those kids are safest under Dumbledore." He heard his father sigh, as James crouched down on the floor and pushed his back against the wall. He didn't really understand it all – the events of the previous year played on his mind but, since he had arrived home, his parents had been acting strange, as well.

The few owls he'd received from his friends didn't help, either.

Peter said his parents were constantly working now, constantly in and out of the ministry. They were meant to be going on holiday, but so far, no mention of it had been made. Sirius' letter just said his mother was the same, although she criticised him more and more for his 'blood-traitor ways', saying they would be his downfall. She was currently trying to find out if Dumbledore would allow him to switch house to Gryffindor.

Remus' parents did not let him out of their sight.

"James?"

He jumped up, turning around to see his parents standing in the doorway, watching him carefully.

"James? What are you doing up?" his mother asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I wanted a drink," he muttered, shifting in his spot. "I heard you talking and...and I didn't want to interrupt."

"So you decided to eavesdrop, instead?" his father said, shaking his head, though there was no sign of anger there, no sign of reproach. He glanced over James, and the boy thought he saw something unusual in his father's eyes – a sadness that hadn't been there before.

"Go to bed, James," his mother sighed. "I'll bring you a glass of milk."

James nodded, retreating back and climbing the stairs. The few portraits there were asleep, undisturbed by the movement around the house. Once he was in his room, he crawled back into his bed and pulled the covers up, staring out the window.

Something strange and unusual was happening to their world, and James, along with his friends, was being kept in the dark.

X X X

Sirius Black sat in front of the large tapestry that depicted his family tree. The Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. His eyes scanned over the names, over the holes where his mother had blasted members off the tree. From downstairs, he could hear music, and laughter. There was a sound out in the corridor and he turned as the door opened.

His little brother stumbled in.

"Sirius?" he whispered, rubbing his eyes. "What are you doing in here?"

The contrast couldn't have been more obvious; Sirius was wearing an expensive set of dress robes, deep green with silver lining along the collar. The colour was an attempt by his mother to convince him how wonderful it would be if he were in the snake house.

"Doesn't that colour look wonderful on you, Sirius?" she had crooned earlier that day, after getting him ready for the party.

His brother, on the other hand, was wearing a pair of bright blue striped pyjamas, hanging off his small body. They once belonged to Sirius, until he grew out of them and they were handed down to Reg.

"Why aren't you at the party?" Reg asked, stepping further in. He moved to the middle of the room where Sirius sat, and fell down beside him.

"It was boring," Sirius muttered, his eyes returning to the family tree. It was easier to tell his little brother that, than it would have been to tell him the truth. Sirius had quickly grown fed up of the party downstairs, had grown annoyed at being surrounded by Slytherin students who glared at him every time he passed them, staring at him as if he did not belong.

"Mum said it was a party for Narcissa," Reg sighed, picking at some of the frayed carpet in the floor.

Sirius nodded. "It was a betrothal party. To announce that she and Lucius Malfoy are going to be engaged, at some point, and then married."

"Pretty pointless, if you ask me."

Sirius looked over his shoulder to see his favourite cousin, Andromeda, in the doorway. She moved forward, hitching up her own dress to help her walk. As she reached the pair, she knelt on the floor, pulling her dress up above her knees so as not to get dust on it.

"There will just be another party when they do get engaged," she sighed, shaking her head. She eyed Sirius. "So we have that to look forward to, as well."

"Great," Sirius groaned, rolling his eyes. "Mum just likes any excuse to show off."

"What's Hogwarts like?" Reg asked.

"He's asked me that every single day," Sirius explained, glancing at his cousin. "Seriously. Every single day."

"It's amazing," Andromeda told Reg, reaching for him and pulling him towards her. He giggled as she started to tickle him. "It's a wonderful place, Reg, where you can really be yourself."

"What she means," Sirius drawled, "is that without the family surrounding you every minute of the day, you're free. You can be friends with people Mum hates."

"That's why she shouts at you, isn't it?" Reg sighed. "I like Mother."

Andromeda and Sirius shared a gaze, before Sirius reached forward and ruffled his brother's hair. "I know you do, kid." There was no point in telling Reg why their mother was an evil, cruel bitch; since he'd gone to school, it was only Reg and his mother in the house, most days, and he should have known it would have just given her a chance to dig her claws further into his little brother.

"So this is where you all are."

Sirius rolled his eyes at the voice. His hands were folded together and he found himself digging his nails into his palm, focusing his gaze on the family tree to avoid looking at Bellatrix. Reg cried out in joy and scrambled up, running towards their cousin and throwing himself towards her.

"Bella!" he yelled, and Sirius heard her laugh.

"Hello, Reg," she muttered, and Sirius couldn't help but turn around, to see her hugging his little brother. There was a soft smile on her face, making it look all the softer. She glanced up, her eyes locking on Sirius. The smile didn't fade. "Sirius, 'Meda, why aren't you two at the party?"

Reg pulled away, taking her hand and pulling her to the other two. They stood.

"It was boring," Sirius muttered, and Andromeda nodded.

"Yeah, with Lucius all over Narcissa and Rodolphus all over you..."

Bellatrix sighed. "Isn't he handsome?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Who's Rodolphus?"

"He's the year above us," Andromeda explained, her eyes falling on Bellatrix. "It would seem my dear sister has a crush."

Bellatrix shrugged. "He's ambitious, his family are rich and pure-blood and...well, he is handsome."

"You said that," Sirius muttered.

"Sirius Black! Get back down here this instant!"

His mother's voice made him cringe, and Sirius glanced at the other two. "Come on," Andromeda said, placing a hand on his shoulder before pushing him towards the door. "You too, Bella. If you go missing for more than five minutes, Lestrange might just top himself."

"What a shame," Sirius muttered, causing Bella to glare at him.

"Reg, get to bed. Not much longer until you can come to these parties yourself."

"And get bored out of your mind!" Sirius made his way towards the door, his cousins and brother following. "Merlin, I hate these."

X X X 

Remus Lupin opened his eyes slowly, unable to ignore the pain that shot through his body. He was aching all over, and without looking, he knew there would be fresh cuts and bruises across him. Slowly, he pulled himself up until he was sitting upright, eyes darting across the dark room.

A single everlasting candle burnt high up on the wall, the flame's light flickering as it showed him the destruction he had caused the previous night.

His head was starting to pound as he crawled towards the door, not wanting to look at the fresh bloodstains on the wall and floor, or see where he had thrown himself against the wooden panelling as he had attempted to escape.

Movement upstairs caused him to stop and he listened to the footsteps as they crossed back and forth. His mother, no doubt, fretting and worrying about him.

It had been the first full moon since he had been home from school, and the wolf had been agitated. Flashe

s of memory crossed his mind, of anger and hatred and fear. The animal was built on base instinct only, and confusion had clouded its mind as it had found itself somewhere it no longer recognised.

Remus refused, now, to refer to the wolf as 'I'; although it was a part of him, he hated it. He distanced himself from it. Or tried to, anyway.

He pounded his fist against the door before slumping to the floor, legs curled up tightly against his chest. Above him, the footsteps quickened until they were moving closer to the door. His mother pulled it open and instantly reached down, scooping him up in her arms.

Without a word, Remus reached out and wrapped his arms around her neck, burying his head in her chest as she turned and carried him up the stairs. From the kitchen, he could hear his father's voice, talking to another he did not recognise.

"Who's Dad talking to?" he mumbled, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, smelling his mother's perfume. Safety wrapped itself around him like a blanket.

"A friend of his, via floo," she whispered, as they climbed the stairs. "More of our old friends have got in contact with us, since you started school."

"Good," he sighed. "I'm glad."

When he opened his eyes, it was to see his mother smiling softly in the light in the hallways. She pushed open the door of his room and was soon laying his naked body on the bed, pulling his duvet up around him before she sat down and placed the back of his hand against his forehead.

"Water?" she asked.

"Please," he rasped.

She left him for only a few moments, returning with a tall glass full of water and ice. Smiling gratefully, Remus sat up and took it, gulping it down quickly before placing the empty glass on the bed stand. As he stared out the window at the dawning sun, his mother took a variety of ointments and potions out of the drawer in the stand. As she rubbed the ointment over his wounds, she told him a story.

The tale was one he had heard time and time again, but it washed over him in the way only a familiar tale could. He sank down in the bed, smiling as his mother told him of the princess whose father wanted her to marry a powerful warlock.

"The princess knew it would be best for the land. The warlock was a powerful man, when Muggles lived side-by-side with witches and wizards. The court wizard was not powerful enough to defeat him, and neither was the witch who lived in the town. So the princess made a deal; she told her father and the warlock that she would marry him in a year."

"Exactly a year?" Remus muttered, closing his eyes as the ointment began to take hold, easing the pain around the wounds. His mother cupped her hand at the back of his head and he tilted it back, as she lifted a small vial of potion to his lips.

"Exactly a year."

He knew he was too old for fairytales.

"But under the condition that she be allowed to travel during the year, for she knew the warlock would lock her away in his tower and keep her there forever."

"Where did she want to travel, Mother?" he said, his voice full of sleep as the birds chirped outside. Too old or not, he did not care.

"Everywhere. She wanted to see the whole world. It was a lot smaller in those days."

He smiled.

"So the princess set out on her best horse, a creature of pure white that had been bred just for her. And she went off travelling, scouring the land."

Remus turned his head to look at his mother, as he sank further under the duvet. His head rested on the pillow, his eyes dimmed with sleep.

"Eventually, she came upon a castle near a village. Stopping at the village, she asked who lived in the castle, for she did not know who the lords of the land were. The villagers smiled at her and told her the prince lived there; a wonderful, kind man who ensured his people were happy and healthy. They told her that, if she so desired, he would surely give her a place to rest for the night. And so, the princess approached the castle..."

"Was the castle like Hogwarts?"

She smiled at the son's new question. "Yes. But it was smaller. And although there were many servants who lived happily there, there were not as many people as Hogwarts has. So, the princess approached the castle and was allowed to enter. The horse was taken to the stables to be looked after, and she was taken to meet the prince."

She glanced at the empty glass on the table, the empty vial and the ointment she had used. Pain shot through her, but she didn't allow it to cross her features. Instead, she turned back to Remus and continued the story.

"Do you remember what happens next?" she asked.

"The prince was struck by her beauty, and she by how handsome he was."

His mother nodded. "He ordered a banquet to be set up for the princess. It was nearing the end of the year, and she told him she could only stay one night, for she had to return home. The prince begged her to stay, but she informed him that she could not, for she was to be married in a week."

"And the prince was devastated," Remus muttered, his eyes closing.

"Yes, he was. And she found herself telling him, during the feasting and music, that she could not get out of the marriage, because of the warlock's power."

"And then the prince told her he was a wizard."

"Yes, Remus. The prince told her he was a wizard. They travelled back together the following morning, the prince determined to save the princess from her marriage. When they arrived, it was to find the land preparing for a wedding, although the people were solemn. They knew that, once the princess was married, they would lose her. Together they travelled to the castle, where the princess told her father that she had met a wizard prince. The prince told him he would defeat the warlock, or die trying; for he could not live without the hand of the princess."

She paused, smiling as she listened to her son's soft snoring. Reaching forward, she brushed his hair back once more, her hand lingering on his forehead, glad to find it had returned to a normal temperature. She kissed his head before standing and moving out of the room, wondering if Remus was dreaming of a prince who duelled with a mighty warlock for the love of his life, and won, becoming king when his father-in-law died.


	2. Chapter 2

Peter Pettigrew was not a fan of travelling. Or holidays. Or being dragged around museums and beaches and other areas of interest by his parents.

But he would have taken all of that over the summer he was currently having.

At least then he would have actually seen his parents.

Instead, they were always gone at the crack of dawn, leaving the house before he woke up. All too often, he was asleep by the time they returned, too, and when he wasn't, he was confronted with a pair of people who looked too tired, too exhausted to be his parents.

He remembered James mentioning the possibility of visiting each other, before the summer holidays, but no mention of it had been made so far. So Peter was stuck at home, alone, wondering why his parents were suddenly working so hard. He knew the ministry was a busy place, but he couldn't remember them ever not having time for him before.

All in all, it was enough to make the boy feel a little saddened, and he eagerly looked forward to September, when he could return to the castle and actually have some company.

One evening, his mother returned early.

At first, Peter was excited and eager to see his mother home before tea, but that excitement quickly turned to worry.

"Where's Dad?" he asked, trailing her from the hallway to the kitchen.

She sighed, picking up the cup of tea left for her at the side of the kitchen by their house-elf. She flashed Peter a quick, forced smile. "Working," she muttered, before falling into one of the chairs. "He's working, Peter."

"Like always," he muttered, sitting opposite his mother and crossing his arms on the table, slumping down. "You're always working!"

"I know." She reached across the table, her hand falling on his shoulder. "I know, Peter, and I know it hasn't been easy on you. I'm sorry. But...it is important. Very important. We both love you very much, and if we didn't have to go into work so much, we would be spending more time with you." She paused, titling her head to the side as she looked at him. "Peter, your father and I...we'll have a day off, after your letter arrives from the school. We'll still be able to take you shopping in Diagon Alley."

Peter nodded, although he turned his head away and stared out of the window at drab, dreary, grey sky outside. It had been a wet summer, and he hadn't even been able to spend time outside.

"Peter?"

"Okay," he mumbled, before pushing himself away from the table and turning away from her, dragging himself out of the room and upstairs.

X X X

The letters arrived at the end of July. Owls were sent out across the UK, to inform new students of their acceptance into the school and to deliver book and equipment lists to returning students. As soon as James received his, he sent the family owl to Sirius, Remus and Peter, asking when they would be in Diagon Alley.

Few of the students stared at the letters too long, not wanting to be reminded of the loss of their Deputy Head. Instead of the Deputy signing them, however, it was Dumbledore's signature written on the bottom of each letter.

Sirius' reply came first. The letter was short and brief.

_Sorry, no chance, mate. Mum is insisting we do it as a family – I'm going to have to stay with them all day. _

Remus and Peter both replied saying they were planning on staying overnight in the Leaky Cauldron with their families, and the three of them arranged to go in on the same date. James was more than eager to go back to the unusual winding shopping street again, and even more eager to see his friends.

Especially Remus.

He had been worried about Remus since he had returned home. He knew that, at school, Remus disappeared to the Shack during the full moon, but he couldn't imagine his parents having access to an area as big as that. Since he had been home, he had searched through the books his parents had owned, reading everything and anything about werewolves.

He couldn't believe the amount that declared werewolves to be pure evil. It led him to wonder if any of the writers had actually ever met a werewolf, or if everything they had written had been based on the legends and tales that had gone before.

Remus, he knew, was not evil. The way the books talked about them, it was like they believed every werewolf was destined to be one, or was one through choice.

There was one chapter, however, in one book, that temporarily made James forget his anger at the rest. To him, it was clear the author had, actually, met a werewolf. And not as a wolf, either.

They wrote about it from a different perspective, even commenting on the amount of pain faced every month during the transformation.

_A werewolf, for the majority of the time, is a human. This seems to be an important fact forgotten by many, but the truth is the werewolf suffers greatly every month, including the days directly before and directly after the full-moon. _

The other books, when commenting on the werewolf during the rest of the month, had a much more ominous tone, full of paranoia. There were lines like _they look just like you and me; do you know if your neighbour is a werewolf? _The book he was currently reading, however, had the approach of just-like-you-and-me, including the best parts.

Sitting back, James glanced at the book. He wondered what it would be like, to travel the world and explore the deepest, darkest reaches of it, destroying the darkness as he went and bringing forth the light. Perhaps, he thought, he could reveal his experiences to others – surely, there were other werewolves out there like Remus, who weren't evil or cruel or destined to be this creature. Like Remus, perhaps they were just unfortunate.

On the day they were going to Diagon Alley, he was woken early by his mother. With a wide smile on her face, she ushered him downstairs. His father passed him the plant pot containing the Floo powder, and James took a pinch. He watched as his mother went first, before he threw the powder into the fireplace and stepped inside.

"Diagon Alley!" he cried, and immediately felt the familiar tug as his body turned, whizzing past other fireplaces.

He stumbled out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron, brushing soot off his clothes as he gazed around. Remus and his parents sat at a table, and immediately Remus leapt up. The two boys crossed the pub and threw their arms around each other, both grinning as they did so.

"Miss me, Remmy?" James chuckled, as Remus stepped back. The smaller boy blushed before rolling his eyes and turning to his parents.

"Mum, Dad, this is James Potter."

His parents stood and shook James' hand when it was offered. They smiled at him before asking how his summer was going. His father arrived, approached them and James introduced them, too, to Remus and his parents.

"It's been too long," James' father chuckled, shaking the hand of Mr. Lupin. Remus and James glanced at each other, James raising his eyebrows as their mothers hugged in a way that people who knew each other for years tended to hug.

"We knew Mr and Mrs Lupin back in school," James' mother explained, glancing at the boys. "We were a few years ahead of them, though..."

The boys nodded before the group sat down at the table, James and Remus catching up on the goings-on during the summer. Eventually, Peter arrived with his parents, and both James and Remus were stuck at how pale and sullen the boy looked. He had even lost weight, and the clothes which had clung tightly to him in school were now hanging off a slightly smaller frame.

Still, his face brightened when he spotted them and he ran forward, greeting them from across the pub. His parents trailed behind, both looking exhausted.

The adults greeted each other and, again, it turned out that Peter's parents had been in school the same time as the others, although once more, they had been in a different year. Together, the group left the pub and stood at the brick wall that was the entrance to Diagon Alley. It was Peter's father who tapped the bricks and seconds later, the boys were grinning madly as they stared down the long, winding street.

"Gringotts, first?" Mrs Potter suggested, to nods from the other adults. The boys groaned, causing the men to suggest that the males of the group have a sundae, instead. Reluctantly, the women agreed, and so James, Peter and Remus followed their fathers to the ice cream parlour.

The men chatted about Quidditch, with James eagerly listening and throwing in their own comments, between catching up. Mr Lupin contributed little to the conversation, but listened all the same with a soft, tired smile on his face.

"Look!" James cried, eyes locking on Quality Quidditch Supplies across the street. "There's a new broom in."

The three boys had all finished their ice-creams, and with a laugh, Mr Potter suggested they go look in the shop.

"You need a broom, anyway," Mr Potter muttered, "if you want to get on the team this year."

"And we can keep an eye on you from here," Mr Lupin said. As soon as he had finished speaking, the three boys leapt up and darted towards the shop. Although Remus wasn't as into the game as James, his friend's excitement was contagious, and he couldn't help but admire the new broom listed as 'just in stock'.

"That's amazing," James sighed, eyes running over the broom.

"Yeah, but look on the price of it," Peter mumbled. "Just for a broom?"

"This broom could help me get on the team!" James replied, eyes glued to it. "Can you imagine? I'd be faster than every other player in Hogwarts!"

"Do you think your dad will get it for you?" Remus asked, glancing over to the parlour, where the fathers seemed to be in deep conversation, serious looks now on their faces.

"Of course he will." James' voice was confident, as a grin stretched across his face. "He wants to see me get on the team as much as I want to get on it."

"There's our mums," Peter said, gesturing outside the shop and up the street.

"We should get back." James turned away from the broom with a last, lingering look, and with the other two, headed outside to meet their parents.

X X X

"They just grow so fast!" Mrs Potter shook her head as she watched the three boys getting fitted for robes. Her eyes darted to look at the men, standing near the front of the shop, hands full of bags containing potion ingredients and books.

"Better get them a couple of sets, a size or two up," Mrs Pettigrew muttered, as Peter shifted uncomfortably, the tape measuring him from head to toe. "Shopping at Christmas is always awkward, and I don't want to be rushing around buying him more robes because he's outgrown the last ones."

"Especially with the food they have at that school," Mrs Lupin sighed. "I swear, I've tried to copy those recipes so many times but the house elves are brilliant cooks." The other two women nodded in agreement.

"Not to mention the feasts!" Mr Potter called from the front. "Not that your cooking isn't wonderful, dear!"

Soon, the sets of robes were being pushed into the hands of the boys. Their mothers ushered them outside and, once there, the women double-checked the lists.

"There's Sirius!" James cried, nodding his head down the street, back towards the Leaky Cauldron. Sirius trailed behind his family – including his mother, aunt and cousins – looking less than happy. His hands were stuffed into his pockets, his head hanging forward and a scowl on his face.

"We should say hello..." Remus said, stepping forward.

"He said not to, if we saw him," James muttered, sounding upset as he sighed. "He said he didn't want to inflict his mother on us. Apparently she would go nuts..."

"Sounds like her," Mrs Potter said under her breath. Her eyes fell on Sirius, before she glanced at the other women. "Did you ever have the pleasure of knowing her?"

"No," the others replied.

Mr Potter put his hand on James' shoulder. "Poor boy. He doesn't look happy, does he?" Gently, he pushed James forward. "Is there anything else to get?" he asked his wife.

She read off the list, the boys saying 'check' whenever she mentioned something they'd already picked up.

"I think we have everything," she muttered, once they were done. "Looks like we do."

"Come on then, let's get you that broom."

James' mouth curled up, a grin on his face as he nodded eagerly. Remus and Peter laughed, unable to help it on seeing the look of joy on their friend's face. Happily, the group headed towards Quality Quidditch Supplies. James glanced towards Flourish & Blotts, as Sirius and his family entered, feeling a pang at the fact that he was unable to just say hi to one of his best friends.

X X X

The group ended the day back in the Leaky Cauldron. With Remus and Peter spending the night in the pub, James' parents agreed to eating tea with them, giving the boys more of a chance to catch up. Mr Potter spoke quickly to Tom, the landlord, before returning to the table with drinks and a copy of the Daily Prophet.

He glanced quickly at the front page of the paper, before opening it up and scanning quickly through it. All eyes were on him. James, Remus and Peter couldn't help but pick up on the way their parents were gazing at him, as if waiting for him to deliver grave news. Once he'd flicked through, he folded the paper and put it down on an empty table next to them.

"Nothing," he muttered, before his face broke into a smile. "What's everyone having?" he asked, clapping his hands together as the adults let out sighs of relief. The boys, seated together, glanced at each other, raising their eyebrows.

There was something going on that their parents were refusing to tell them about, and they were all too aware of it.

Finally, James spoke up.

"What aren't you telling us?" he said, frowning as he gazed at his father. "There's something going on, isn't there?"

The adults sent each other nervous glances, before looking at their boys. None of them had yet hit thirteen, and the parents did not yet to ruin what little childhood they had.

"James..." his father whispered, but James shook his head.

"No, it isn't fair. It's happening all the time! Something is going on, and it's something important, isn't it? Otherwise you wouldn't be so on edge about it."

"James, please, be quiet," his mother begged, unable to stand seeing her son getting so wound up. James took a deep breath, leaning forward.

"After all the stuff that has happened in the last year, I can't believe you are still treating us like we're children! We have a right to know."

Remus reached forward, putting a hand on James' shoulder. His eyes locked on his friend, as James slowly turned to look at him. Over Remus' shoulder, he saw Sirius and his family, staring at the table. Mrs Black sneered at them, while Narcissa and Bellatrix had strange smiles on their aristocratic faces. Andromeda was shaking, biting her bottom lip, while Sirius gazed at James, looking worried.

"Some things are best kept secret," Remus whispered, and James felt the blood drain out his face as he calmed down.

To his surprise, Mrs Black approached the table. "Well said, Master Lupin. You are the Lupin boy, aren't you?" She glanced at his parents. "Of course you are. But I do not believe in treating them like children, and I find myself agreeing with..." She eyed James, before looking at Peter. "You must be a Potter." Her eyes snapped to his father. "You all look the same." Her gaze was cold, as she turned once more to James. "You do have a right to know, after all. You can't protect them forever, after all. And it is their Head of House who has died."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Firstly, thanks to everyone who has reviewed this so far! Great to see some comments on it. Secondly, to **_**Mmhhm. Marauder**_ **as I cannot send you a review reply. Thank you soooo much for the reviews, and don't worry about sounding too harsh; I love to hear more of what people think, especially in what I can improve on. And don't worry; I do plan for more fun/pranks in Born to Be Kings. For me, the first book was sort of laying the groundwork. This one will have more of them becoming the kings of prank ;)  
>And, like I said there, I love to hear what you, my dear readers, would like to see more of, so any suggestionscomments then please review or PM me. I'm always open to suggestions.  
>Enjoy the chapter.<strong>

Anger and shock ran through the Lupins, Pettigrews and Potters. The three couples turned to stare at Walburga Black, as a sly smile crept across her face. Slowly, her eyes scanned the faces of James, Remus and Peter watching as James' face crumpled, as Peter just gaped and Remus stared at the table, his small body shaking.

"You bitch!" The cry came from Sirius, his eyes narrow and his face red as he stared at his mother. "You horrible old hag!"

"Do not talk to me like that," she hissed, lifting her chin as her eyes stared down at him. "Show some respect, Sirius."

"Respect is earned," he snapped back. "And there's no way I will ever respect a wretched horrible bitch like you."

The other patrons of The Leaky Cauldron carried on their own conversations, their own eating and drinking, ignoring Walburga as she slapped her son across his face. In the family group, only Reg flinched. But on the table shared by the three friends on their families, the three boys stood.

"Sit down," Mrs Potter whispered, eyes falling on her son. "James, please..."

"And what are you three going to do?" Walburga cackled, eyes snapping to stare at them. "Turn my hair that sickly shade of red that belongs to Gryffindor? I have heard you're very fond of that...trick," she drawled whilst, behind her, Bellatrix smiled.

"Shut up!" Sirius hissed, his fists clenched together at his sides, his body trembling as she turned her eyes onto him. "Just shut up! You have no right to talk to them like that! You have no right to treat people as second-class just because you think you're so much better! You're just a bitter old woman!"

Her face flushed red as she reached out, grabbing Sirius' wrist and pulling him towards her. He puffed his chest out, eyes wide and defiant as she bent her head, face inches from his.

"Bellatrix, Narcissa, Andromeda," she said, panting between each name, "make sure your cousin arrives home safely."

With that, she disappeared, apparating out of the pub and out of sight. Remus' mother gaped at the spot where she had stood, as the three girls ushered their cousin towards the fireplace. Everyone else in the room avoided looking at them, but James couldn't help but notice the smirks on two of the three Black girls' faces.

Soon, the rest of them had disappeared into the fire place, and the three boys sank down in their seats.

Mr Pettigrew's face was red. "That," he muttered, "is, without a doubt, a breach of Ministry protocol."

Mr Potter nodded slowly. "You cannot apparate with someone under the age of sixteen, am I right?"

It was Mrs Pettigrew, this time, who nodded. "You're right. There are too many dangers involved for someone who hasn't been more...educated, in terms of magic, and..."

"Stop," Peter whined, turning his gaze to his mother. "Mum, just...stop. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Or us," James muttered, glancing at his own parents. "Why didn't you tell us Professor York had died?"

"They were trying to protect us." Remus had returned his focus to the table, shoulders near his ears as he stared at the wood. His hands were under the table, folded together on his lap. Everyone turned to look at him. "Right? Because that's what you do when you love someone. You keep secrets and try to protect them." Slowly he lifted his head, eyes wide as they fell on his mother. Slowly she nodded, tears all too clear in the bottom of her eyes.

"We were going to tell you," Mr Potter said, letting out a deep breath. "James, please believe us, me and your mother, we really were going to tell you. We just..."

"Needed a better time," Mrs Potter cut in, standing slowly. She glanced at the other two couples. "It was lovely seeing you again." Her voice was crisp, curt but shaking. She turned to James. "Come on, James, we should get home."

Quickly he said his goodbyes to his friends, before his parents ushered him, gently, towards the fireplace. All too soon he was standing in the Potter's living room, his back to the fireplace as his parents stepped out of it. He kept his arms at his sides, his head bowed forward.

"James?" his mother whispered, slowly approaching him.

He turned towards her and before he could do anything else, he had crumpled into her embrace, sobbing gently into her.

X X X

Peter soon left with his parents, leaving Remus and his family in the Cauldron. Mrs Lupin suggested they head to their rooms and both her husband and son agreed, the four of them pulling themselves slowly up the stairs. Once in the corridor, Remus' parents headed to their room, Mr Lupin handing his son some money, in case he wanted a drink from the bar downstairs. Remus watched them disappear into their room before he headed into his.

Once there, he gathered up a towel and shampoo, holding them tightly to him as he darted back out to use the shared bathroom. Half-way down the hall, he bumped into a familiar face.

"Remus?"

"Lily?" he spluttered, glancing at her. She had just slid out of another room, carefully locking it behind her, and now leant against the door, staring at him.

"Oh, are you staying here, too?" she asked, eyeing the items in his hands.

Remus nodded.

"That's great," she muttered. "I...I should let you go..."

"Do you want to grab a drink?" he offered. "Downstairs? My dad gave me some money."

Brightly, she smiled at him, nodding eagerly. "Please. I need to get away from my sister." She rolled her eyes as Remus walked with her back down the hall, dropping his stuff off in his room before they went downstairs.

Once in the bar, they sat at a table over to the side. It still wasn't late, and the majority of customers were those who had recently finished shopping and were staying at the inn or about to head home. Of course, there were a number of people there who Remus had seen when they had arrived, and who, he suspected, would remain until closing time.

"Remus," Lily began, before letting out a deep breath. "I'm sorry I...I didn't really speak to you much, towards the end of last year. But with...with everything going on..."

"It's okay," he muttered, fidgeting as he glanced anywhere but at her. "Lily, it's fine, I..."

"Did you hear about Professor York?" she asked, biting down on her bottom lip. "Apparently, Mum and Dad had an owl about it. They told me and...and..." Tear sprung up in her eyes as she tilted her head forward, body shaking. Remus didn't know what to say. He knew they – all of them – were too young to have to deal with everything that had happened, to deal with the deaths and the random destruction that had taken place.

And he knew that was why their parents had kept the information from them. But there was something at the back of his mind, something telling him that there had to be more to it than that. After all, Lily's parents had told her instantly, so what was it that the others knew that Mr and Mrs Evans didn't?

"Did you say you were here with your sister?"

She sniffed before nodding. "Yeah, and my parents. We arrived not long ago; going shopping tomorrow for my stuff."

"Your sister..."

"Is a pain," she muttered, shaking her head. "Petunia...she doesn't like having a freak in the family," she scoffed, turning away from Remus and staring at the bar. "Did you know I live near Severus?"

"Snape?"

"Yeah."

"No, I..." He paused. It made sense. After all, the two did seem close, even before they'd started at Hogwarts. "So?" he asked, trying to keep his voice soft, gentle.

"He's going through some...stuff," she replied, taking a deep breath as she turned back to him, fixing him with her emerald green stare. "Please, Remus, if you could...ask Potter and Black to lay off him this term, would you?"

"I'll try," he stuttered, though he knew it would have no effect. Sirius and James hated the Slytherins, and telling them not to try to prank or insult one of them was like telling them not to breathe.

"Thanks. I should get back."

And suddenly she was gone, darting up the stairs and back to her room.

X X X

A soft knock on his door made Peter's head snap up. Gently, his mother's voice called though the wood, asking if she could come in. He replied, weakly, that she could, and suddenly she was standing in front of him with a bowl of hot soup in one hand and a plate of bread in the other.

Sniffing, Peter forced himself to sit up. She handed him the food and sat down on the bed, surveying him with warm eyes.

"Peter?" she asked, voice gentle. "How are you feeling?"

He shrugged, digging into the food with his eyes fixed on the bowl as he dunked in a slice of bread.

"If you want to talk..."

"You and Dad aren't here to talk to," he muttered, biting down on the bread and chewing it slowly, still not looking at her. "Tomorrow, you'll both be back at work and it'll just be me and the house-elves. Again."

"I'm sorry, Peter," she sighed. "But it really can't be helped. With everything that's been going on..."

"You could at least tell me," he replied, narrowing his eyes into a glare as he looked at her. "You could at least explain to me why you and Dad are never here. You should have told me that Professor York had died!"

"We..."

He turned away from, so sharply that the bowl and bread fell off the bed, falling onto the floor. Mrs Pettigrew sighed, eyes falling on the upturned bowl.

"Peter..."

"Go away!" he sobbed, sinking down into his bed and pulling the blanket over his head. "Just go away."

Holding back her own tears, she left him in his room. Once in the corridor, she leant against the door, closing her eyes and wishing things didn't have to be the way they were.

X X X

"Get to your room! Now!"

Puffing his chest out, Sirius just stared at his mother, his cold eyes narrowed as she glared at him. Her usually pale, drawn face was flushed with rage, her wand clenched in her hand. He knew she would use it, if she saw fit. Nothing could be put past Walburga Black, not even the possibility of using a nasty curse on her own son.

"Fine!" he snapped. "I hate being around bitter old cows anyway!" With that, Sirius turned and stalked out of the kitchen, stamping his feet on the stairs until he arrived at his room. Wrenching open the door, he made sure to slam it behind him before stepping into the room and falling onto his bed.

It didn't always used to be like this.

He remembered days of sunlight and happiness, when he was much younger. He remembered his mother taking him and Reg to the park, watching them as they swung on the swings. Although she disliked Muggles, she put up with their presence to see her children enjoy themselves.

But then something awful had happened, and if it wasn't for Walburga's steely resolve, Sirius expected they would have been kicked out of all the upper class Wizarding circles.

Sirius' dad left.

Worse; he had left them for another woman.

And to top it off, the woman was a muggle-born.

Sirius slowed his breathing down, already sensing the items in his room shaking, a sure sign that if he didn't calm down, his magic would take his anger out for him.

Since he could remember, Sirius had been told that being a Black meant he was born into nobility. They were above other wizarding families, especially those that were known as being Muggle lovers. They were better than the Potters, the Weasleys, the Pettigrews and Lupins. Better than any Muggle born children he would ever meet. And, the strange thing was, most of this came from his father. His mother believed it, too, but it wasn't until he left that she began to drill it into their heads, too.

But the whole belief system, for Sirius, had come crashing down when his father left.

He had been eight at the time, and had silently questioned the teachings he had been taught. If they were better, then why had his father run off with a muggle-born? And then he had gone to Hogwarts and realised, no, they weren't better than any other family. They weren't better than those born to muggle parents. They were the same; they looked the same, they breathed the same, they had the same questions and same feelings and, actually, his best friends were those his mother hated.

And he knew his family hated him for it.

Except for Andromeda.

She had been there, when his father left. She had been there to answer his questions about Muggles and why they hated them so. She had been the one to tell him that no wizard or witch was better than another just because they had a certain surname.

A strange thought occurred to Sirius. Some of the best owls could find a person, even with no address. It depended on a variety of factors, of course, but at school there were a number of different owls and at least one of them had to have that rare ability...

He sat up in his bed, eyes fixed on the door.

Perhaps he could try writing to his estranged father. Maybe the man would take him in for the following summer, have him away from his mother and her horrible ways.

For a brief moment, Sirius smiled, before the practicalities kicked in. His mother was his legal guardian, she had ensured that as soon as Mr Black had left. The law stated that, if he were to leave home before his sixteenth birthday, she could have the Ministry track him down and drag him back.

But, someday, he vowed, he would find his father again, even if he only got the chance to ask him _why_.

X X X

"For the love of Merlin, would you hurry up?"

His mother's voice travelled up the stairs, sending a verbal kick up his arse. Quickly, he slammed the top of the suitcase down and sat on it, bending down to zip it up, his tongue poking out the side of his mouth. Despite the excitement surging through him about going back, there was something deeper down that made him question why he felt so happy.

After all, he was returning to a very different Hogwarts than the one he had started at a year ago.

"James Potter!" his mother cried. "You have exactly thirty seconds to get your suitcase to the top of those stairs and..."

"Done!" he said, appearing at the top with his suitcase, grinning down at her. His mother let out a sigh, before pointing her wand at the suitcase. She charmed it and, seconds later, it was floating down the stairs with James following behind.

His father was in the living room, hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. He scooped up a pile of coins from on top of the fireplace, dropping them into James' hands.

"Should be enough for snacks on the train."

"Thanks, Dad!" His father hugged him, holding him tightly.

"Now, be careful, James, you hear? I don't want any news of trouble from the school."

James nodded. "I will," he muttered, shifting his feet as his mother bustled around the house, checking he had forgotten anything.

Eventually, she arrived back in the room with a big smile on her face. Clapping her hands together, she glanced at her son. "Your uniform's at the top?"

He nodded.

"Good. Good! Then come on, let's go." She ushered father and son towards the fireplace, causing them to glance at each other and share a quick smile. James' father reached for the pot, took out a pinch of the green powder and threw it into the fireplace, before grabbing the suitcase, yanking it in with him.

"King's Cross Station!" he called and in a whirl was gone.

"Go on, James."

James copied his father's actions, stumbling out into a small office, hidden away from the public at the train station. The man inside checked his list, ticking off their names before giving them a curt nod, as Mrs Potter appeared.

"Right, off you go," he muttered, gesturing them towards the door. "Quick, before the Prewetts arrive. Can't have you all crammed in here."

The family moved off, leaving through the door before turning right on the corridor they found themselves in.

Soon, they had entered the main section of the station. Walking between his parents, James glanced around at the various Muggles coming to and fro. None of them paid attention when they walked past families with children pushing large trolleys, some with owls or cats. He was always amazed at how little they paid attention to their surroundings.

When they arrived at the barrier, James' mother brushed him down before gently nudging him forward.

"Well, go on then, son."

With a grin, James pushed his trolley forward, heart thumping against his chest at the prospect of finally returning to school.

**A/N: Yeah, so, pre-teen angst. Sorry about all that. Anyway, next chapter will be a bit more cheery, I promise. Just needed to lay some ground-work for my version of things, is all. As always, feedback and reviews are very much appreciated and any reviews over one-line in length are returned. Cheers. **


	4. Chapter 4

Almost immediately, he spotted Remus. The small boy stood with his parents, not far from the Express, already waiting in the station. "Remus!" he called, grinning as the boy turned and spotted him. With a smile on his face, Remus waved, before talking quickly to his parents. Soon, he was approaching James.

"Hey," he muttered. "How was the rest of your summer?"

James shrugged. The few weeks between the trip to Diagon Alley and the return to Hogwarts had been uneventful, boring almost. Nothing had happened, except for his parents sometimes staring at him as if expecting him to explode, before asking if he was feeling okay.

"Fine," he replied, finally. "Yours?"

"Yeah it was...okay," Remus replied, as they turned and began to make their way back to Remus' parents. "I haven't seen Peter or Sirius yet, though."

"Let's grab a carriage," James suggested. "They'll find us in there."

Remus nodded his agreement, and the boys said quick goodbyes to their parents, before darting towards the large red train. As they pulled their suitcases down the hall, they glanced into the various carriages, looking for an empty one. Soon, they were settled in, James stretching out across the seats before he glanced at Remus.

"How have you been, anyway?" he asked, voice soft. Remus' eyes snapped to him, one eye narrowed in thoughtful concentration.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, with...you know, the monthly problem," James squeaked, suddenly feeling uncomfortable and wondering if his friend would have preferred him not to mention it. His face was red as Remus shrugged.

"Same as always. Well, sort of. I guess I'm kind of used to it by now but the wolf...the wolf didn't like waking up somewhere new, again." He rolled his eyes, before letting out a deep breath. "But, really, James, you shouldn't be worrying about me."

"I'm your friend, Remus," James sighed. "Of course I'm going to worry about it. It's part of the territory! And if you ever want to talk, I'm here for you, yeah?"

Remus smiled, nodding slowly before his eyes fell downwards.

"Have you thought about telling Sirius and Peter?"

He let out a long sigh before lifting his head and looking at James. "No, well I...I've thought about it but...not yet."

"Okay," James said, nodding. "That's fine, Remus. Don't look so scared. Tell them when you're ready, yeah?"

A small smile appeared on the boy's face. He opened his mouth to say something, shutting it quickly when the door opened. Sirius grinned at them, dragging his suitcase in and holding a small cage with an owl inside.

"Look what I got," he said, placing the owl next to him.

"You didn't have that in Diagon," James muttered, tilting his head to one side as he looked at the bird.

"Nah, it arrived yesterday. Mum just handed it over to me and said 'that's for you'. She didn't say who it was from though." He reached in between the bars, tickling the owl. "He's so friendly."

"Name?" Remus asked, inching away from the owl as it looked at him with cold eyes.

"I don't know, yet. I'll think of something though." He lifted his head, glancing first at James then at Remus. "I...I wanted to apologise, for my mother. She..."

"No need," James cut in, shaking his head. "Really, Sirius, you're not the one who needs to apologise."

Sirius nodded, before glancing at Remus. "Are you okay, Remus?"

The owl was between the pair, and Remus was pushing himself against the wall, as far away from the creature as he could get. The owl still had its stare fixed on him, and suddenly snapped its beak at the bars, towards the small boy.

"Owls don't like me," Remus muttered, lifting himself up and moving across to sit next to James. "I had to go to the Owlery last year, just so they could get used to my smell," he explained, shifting himself until he was comfortable.

"Oh. Well, I'm sure he'll get used to you soon, won't you, boy?"

"Yeah," Remus muttered with a small smile. "Yeah."

The door opened once more and Peter stumbled in, a wide smile on his face as he glanced around at the other boys. The three of them called their greetings as he settled himself in Remus' now-vacant seat.

"Do you think it'll be weird," he began, "without York there?"

"Yeah. I wonder who the next Head will be?" James muttered, frowning as he glanced out of the window. His gaze fell on his parents, currently caught in a discussion with Remus'.

"And, by the way, my mother's little outburst was the first I heard of it, too," Sirius said, letting out a sigh. "That woman drives me crazy."

James laughed, shaking his head. "Well...she is still your mother, Sirius."

In response, he just scoffed. "Yeah, and she believes that blood makes you better than anything else. Just because I share her blood doesn't mean we have anything in common."

"How's your brother?" Remus asked, remembering Sirius' worries about him the year before. "He's starting next year, isn't he?"

Before Sirius could answer, the train beneath them began to rumple. Remus, Peter and James squeezed themselves in at the window, waving to their parents on the platform.

"Sirius, aren't you going to wave goodbye to your family?" Peter glanced over his shoulder, spotting Sirius in the same position.

"Na, they'll be outside Bella and Narcissa's carriage," he informed them, his voice cool and calm although with just a smattering of something else; bitterness, jealously or anger, none of the other three could really tell.

Once the train had pulled away from the platform, the three fell back into their seats, eyes sometimes darting to the window, eager to see the rolling scenery change.

"So, Sirius, your brother?" Remus nudged him with his foot, as Sirius slowly nodded.

"Yeah, well, he's okay. Just a bit...I don't know. Mum's had more time with him, hasn't she? I think she's close to brainwashing him..." He sighed, closing his eyes briefly. "I just wish I could stop her. Oh, yeah, and Narcissa is officially betrothed, now," he drawled.

"Yeah? To who?" Peter squeaked.

"Malfoy," he spat with a scowl. "Bloody Lucius Malfoy."

Peter wined, James sighed and Remus just stared at Sirius.

"But you knew it was coming," Remus said.

"Yeah, doesn't mean I'm happy about being related to a Malfoy."

"Anything from the trolley, dearies?"

The four boys turned to see the trolley witch, smiling happily at them with her hands gripped on the trolley itself, displaying all kinds of wizarding treats.

James and Sirius leapt up, moving quickly towards it and grabbing whatever caught their eyes, handing coins over to the witch. Once they were done, Remus and Peter followed, taking their time as they scanned the food, slowly grabbing a few things before making their way back to their seats. The witch closed the door and moved on, as James ripped open a chocolate frog, hand darting forward and holding it tightly before it could leap away.

"So, James," Sirius began, opening a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, holding it out to the group. With a shudder, Remus shook his head, turning to his tube of Smart Pops, a small chocolate sweet that changed flavour in the mouth to whatever you were thinking of. "Any plans for this year?"

"Plans?" James asked, a glint in his eyes as he grinned at Sirius. "Why, Sirius, whatever could you mean?"

Sirius laughed, shaking his head. "Remus? Discovered any interesting spells we could use?"

Remus glanced away, staring out the window at the hills they were currently whizzing past. His mind drifted back to his conversation with Lily, to her asking him to request that Sirius and James lay off Snape. "Maybe," he muttered. "Who were you thinking of going for, now?"

Both boys shrugged. "My cousins, for one," Sirius muttered. "And Narcissa's dear betrothed."

"Snape, too," James muttered, a dark tone in his voice. "That slimey, greasy-haired git thinks he's so great at everything. And did you see how much he hounded Caedmon last year about the Dark Arts?"

Remus shrugged. "Maybe he just has an interest in fighting them?" he suggested. "You know, like you do." He glanced quickly out of the window, before drawing his eyes back to the group. "Maybe we should try to get Narcissa and Bellatrix, first. Snape can wait until later, can't he?"

James shrugged. "Yeah, whatever. You got anything we can use at the feast?" A grin lit up his face as he shifted himself towards Remus. "We could start the year off with a bang. You know, in honour of Professor York."

Remus glanced at his bag, before letting out a sigh and reaching into it, pulling out a book with pieces of parchment sticking out of the top. "I might have something," he muttered. "Hang on."

Expectantly, the other three stared at him, leaning forward in an attempt to read what he had written. His eyes flickered up, spotting them trying to read, and he pulled the book closer to his chest, eyes darting quickly back down. Realising they would have no luck, the other three fell back.

"Are you going to try out for the Quidditch team, then?" Peter asked after a few minutes of silence. James ripped the leg off his chocolate frog, threw it into his mouth and chewed before answering.

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I? I'm a good flyer, and I bet I'll be a great player, too."

"Don't get too cocky now, Potter," Sirius warned. "You're going to have some stiff competition, a lot of it from older students."

"I know, but still..." James trailed off as Remus snapped the book shut, gripping a piece of parchment.

"Found it," he announced, grinning as he held his palm out, the side of the scrap with writing on it facing upwards. The eyes of James, Sirius and Peter scanned over it.

"Remus," James whispered. "This is brilliant."

X X X

The Hogwarts Express pulled into the station in Hogsmeade, slowly gently down as students began to gather their belongings before tumbling off the train. Almost everyone had found their friends, made the years previously. The First Years, looking nervous and scared, clung together as they made their way towards Hagrid's shouting. James, Remus, Peter and Sirius darted through the groups of children, chatting along the way about how they were supposed to get to the school.

"It's carriages," Remus muttered, as they left the train station behind, following the groups of older students. "Pulled by..." He paused, spotting the look on Peter's face. The boy looked terrified.

"Pete? What's wrong?" James asked, eyes darting over the large carriages and the harnesses that clung onto nothing. "Huh, horseless carriages. That's cool."

"Horseless?" Peter squeaked, eyes fixed on the carriages. "They're..."

"Horseless," Sirius muttered, giving a quick nod. "Must be magic. Of course. Come on!" He darted forward, pushing past a group of Slytherins and leaping into a waiting carriage. The others followed, James moving quickly ahead, Remus and Peter following.

"Peter? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Peter mumbled. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Without another word they piled into the carriage and it took off, racing towards the school.

While it moved onward, Sirius and James read and reread the scrap of parchment Remus had provided. Under their breaths they whispered the spell, practicing the hand-movements Remus had included. Peter leant forward, eyeing the parchment.

"You going to help too, Pete?" James asked, eyes darting up and fixing on the small boy.

Peter shook his head. "Na. I...I'll leave this up to you two."

James nodded before returning to the parchment, while Remus studied Peter. The other boy's face was pale, like he had seen a ghost, and although it was quite mild outside, he was shivering.

"Peter? Are you sure you're okay? You don't look well."

"I'm fine," he muttered, hanging his head. "I just need something to eat, is all."

Remus decided not to push it, and instead ran over a few other bits of information about the spell, things he thought would be of use to Sirius and James.

"This will work, won't it?" James asked, biting his bottom lip. "I mean, it's not going to backfire on us, right?"

Remus shrugged. "It depends on how well the spell is done. But it's not an advanced spell – you should be fine."

"Okay, good," James muttered, as the carriages stopped and, around them, students began to pile out. The four boys climbed out and began to ascend the stairs leading to the Entrance Hall, as the chatter of students around them filled the air. Discussions of the sorting were the main topic, with some excitedly talking about siblings or cousins about to go through the process.

"I told him he has to fight a troll," one Slytherin chuckled.

"My sister thinks they have to perform magic, in front of the school," a Ravenclaw drawled, grinning. "She thinks that the house she gets into depends on how well the spell is done."

Darting between older, taller students, James, Remus, Peter and Sirius pushed open the doors to the Great Hall, slipping in with the other students.

They made their way to the Gryffindor table, grabbing themselves places where they could all easily see the Slytherin table. James and Sirius sat on the end, both with a clear view. As they settled down, the sound of others around them continued to fill the air, as people darted from table to table, greeting friends from other houses they had not yet seen.

Overall, the mood was light, and briefly Remus wondered if everyone else was aware of Professor York's death.

Eventually, the teachers filed into the room, taking their seats behind their table. Remus looked up, unable to help staring at the blank spots where Professor Caedmon and Professor York had previously sat.

"Where's Slughorn?" James hissed, leaning in to speak to them. "Guys...where's Slughorn?" He repeated the question with more urgency, more worry, his eyes wide.

"Seeing the first years?" Sirius suggested, trying to keep his voice light. "I mean...someone has to, don't they?"

James nodded but didn't look too convinced as he leant back, eyes locked on Professor Slughorn's vacant seat.

Professor Dumbledore sat, as always, in the middle. To his right sat Professor McGonagall, her face pale and more drawn than it had been the last time the boys had seen her. All the teachers looked tired and worried, but as the students filtered in their faces grew brighter, their shoulders relaxed and some of them even smiled.

Eventually, the hall was full, and Professor Dumbledore stood, his smile bright as he gazed around at the students.

"Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts," he began, eyes twinkling. "I hope you are all looking forward to another year of learning. I have some announcements to make but first, the sorting."

Cheers rose up around the hall as the side-door opened. Professor Slughorn entered, and James visibly relaxed, letting out a deep breath as Filch, the caretaker, brought forward the Sorting Hat on its stool.

The first years gazed at it, some shaking as it opened at the brim, and began to sing.

While the hat sang its song, James' eyes wondered around the Great Hall. He recognised the faces of everyone in there, now, and mentally added up the Quidditch players. Hufflepuff needed two new Chasers and a Keeper, Ravenclaw lacked their Seeker, and Slytherin's two beaters were now gone. He drew his eyes to the Gryffindor table; the only player who had been a seventh year last year was the Keeper. Two of the three Chasers sat together, while the third sat down the other end of the table.

He would have to play well to take the place of any of them on the team.

James returned his attention to the front table as the hat finished its song, a round of applause rising up from the students. Professor Slughorn slid forward.

"Now, when I call your name, please step forward and place the hat on your head."

With that, the sorting began.

James and Sirius cheered loudly whenever a student was declared to be a Gryffindor; their boos were among the loudest when a student was placed in Slytherin. When the hat cried out Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw they, like those around, simply clapped.

Eventually, the last student trotted off to Ravenclaw and the caretaker removed the hat. Food appeared on the tables before them and immediately they began to dig in.

A couple of the first years had squeezed themselves near James, Sirius, Peter and Remus, and now they gazed around at the hall, eyes big and bright.

"My dad's going to be over the moon," one announced, grinning madly at the boy opposite him. "He was a Gryffindor, too."

Another of the first years turned to gaze at Sirius, his mouth slightly open. After a few minutes of staring, Sirius turned to the boy.

"What?" he growled, eyes narrow as the boy shut his mouth and hung his head.

"Sorry, I...I...you're Sirius Black, aren't you?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I am," he sighed. "Why?"

The boy slowly lifted his gaze. "Our parents used to be friends. Mum has photographs of them all together."

Sirius shifted slightly, focusing his gaze on a spot on the table. "Oh. Right."

"I was just surprised you're in Gryffindor, is all," the boy muttered, eventually. "Not that...well, my dad is going to be annoyed when he hears I'm here, too."

Sirius grinned at the boy. "Don't worry about it. Narrow minded people like them are dying out, anyway."

Most of the first years questioned those around them, asking about lessons and Quidditch and aspects of the castle they had yet to discover. Eventually, the food disappeared from the tables, leaving the pupils feeling full and relaxed. Professor Dumbledore stood, stepped forward and smiled around at them all.

"As I stated previously, welcome back to another year at Hogwarts. To our new students; simply, welcome. I hope you enjoy your time here. As you may have realised, we are currently...slightly short-staffed, due to the untimely deaths of Professor Caedmon and Professor York." His voice had taken on a more solemn tone, as Sirius glanced at James.

They nodded to each other.

"The new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor will be arriving in the next day; our new Flying Professor will arrive before the first Quidditch match, and before the first years begin their lessons. I would like to remind pupils that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds, and..."

James lifted his wand, eyes locked on the Slytherin table. Sirius imitated his actions, while Remus and Peter forced themselves to keep their attention on Dumbledore, to ignore the movements of their friends.

As Dumbledore's speech drew to a close, he requested that the students stand and sing the school song to the tune of their choice. Around the hall, pupils stood, Sirius and James included. They winked at each other before their attention fell on Dumbledore and the words rising up from his wand. As the school joined together in song, no one noticed the drinks on the Slytherin table begin to bubble.


	5. Chapter 5

It was the scream of a third year Slytherin girl that drew the attention of everyone in the hall to the Slytherin table. Around the hall laughter flowed, as streams of Pumpkin Juice shot from the glasses on the table, shooting into the air and spraying the Slytherin students. James and Sirius pocketed their wands, trying to stifle their own laughter, although Professor McGonagall's eyes fell straight on them.

Slughorn gaped at his students, before Professor Flitwick waved his wand. The streams of juice stopped, though most of the students were now covered in the stuff. The girls wailed, moaning about their ruined hair, while the boys just stared down the front of their ropes, touching the points they had been hit and pulling away their fingers, wincing at the stickiness of the Pumpkin Juice.

They had timed it just right; as the last student had finished singing, the juice had exploded. The scream, for James, was an added bonus.

"Will all students please return to their common rooms," Professor Dumbledore – cool and calm – drawled. "Once there, if the Slytherin students will change and leave their robes in the common room, they will be collected shortly to be cleaned."

With the laughter of Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors ringing in their ears, the Slytherins trudged out of the room, a fair few of them gazing at the Gryffindor table. Only a few of the older students looked straight at James and Sirius, but most of those in their year glared at the two boys.

The prefects called for the first years to follow them, and once the crowd was moving to the door, James, Sirius, Peter and Remus dove into it, allowing themselves to be gently pulled along as they headed for the Gryffindor tower.

"This way," James whispered, tugging Sirius' robe and nodding his head down an empty corridor.

"That's longer!" Peter whined, as they turned down it.

"But quiet," Sirius replied. They moved down the corridor, past the empty classrooms, until they rounded a corner. Once they were sure they were out of earshot of everyone else, James barked out a laugh.

"That was brilliant!" he chuckled, flashing a huge grin at Remus. "Nice one, Remus."

The boy shrugged. "Small, but effective."

"Did you see their faces?" Sirius said. "Bella was furious! And Narcissa...man, she is going to be pissed about her hair."

"They'll be in the showers all night." Peter glanced at the three of them. "Might rub their stink off."

"Doubt it. And Snivellus' hair is probably less greasy, now," James replied, as they turned another corner and headed up a set of stairs. "It'll teach the first years, too – show them what they have to put up with, now they're in Slytherin."

"Like they have a choice," Remus muttered, rolling his eyes. "One of them was crying, you know."

"Probably all pureblood muggle-haters, anyway," Sirius sighed. "All of them are."

Peter nodded, eyes wide as they carried on through the castle.

"Hey, Remus, any progress on the map?" James asked, glancing at the small boy.

"Not much. It's difficult at home – I can't try any charms or spells on it, and I can't exactly map out the school from there. But I have found a few other spells that might add to it."

"Great!" James glanced around the hall. "Well, that's our project for this year, then."

"Project?" Peter squeaked, as they arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady. "What do you mean?"

"We map the school," James continued, grinning at the other three. "We get the basic plan down, and then...then we explore every inch to find the secret passageways."

"You really think there are secret passageways?" Remus asked.

"Of course," Sirius barked, his grin as big as James'. "There have to be, right – I mean, the school would need some sort of system if they ever came under attack, and it's been here long enough for that to have happened. The Muggles were bombed in the Second World War, right?"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. But they wouldn't have been able to find the castle, plus the defences would have stopped them getting badly hit. The castle is practically indestructible, Sirius."

"Yeah, but, okay, bad example. But they must have had somewhere the pupils and teachers could go for safety, or to get supplies in and out?"

"True," Remus muttered, frowning as he thought it over. "Actually, yeah, a supply system would make sense..."

"We might even find the Chamber of Secrets!" Sirius' voice took on a darker tone, as he glanced around nervously. "You know, the one Slytherin built..."

"I don't want any part of that," James sighed, before he turned to the Fat Lady.

"Why are we still out here?" Peter muttered, frowning at the others.

"Because, Pete," Remus drawled, "none of us know the password."

X X X 

The boys didn't have long to wait. Not long after they had reached the portrait, Arthur Weasley – seventh year Gryffindor – arrived, straightening his glasses as he turned the corner. He flashed the boys a quick smile.

"Not got the password yet, boys?"

"Not got Head Boy then, Arthur?" Sirius asked, eyes darting to look at Arthur's chest, where his prefect badge was proudly displayed.

"No," Arthur sighed. "Didn't your family tell you? Lucius got it. Mandrake."

The portrait swung open. The prefect ushered the four boys in, before climbing in after them.

"His father probably paid for him to get the badge," Sirius commented. "I mean..."

"Actually," Arthur sighed, as they reached the common room. He turned to look at them. "There was no one to really put the case forward for any Gryffindor student. Professor McGonagall is acting Head of Gryffindor – she told me Slughorn swung the case in his favour by stating she didn't know any of us well enough to make a judgement."

"Any news on a new Defence teacher?" James asked, glancing around the room. A few students were gathered around, catching up on summer news they hadn't heard on the train. The mood was light, and he heard a few commenting on the exploding Pumpkin Juice on the Slytherin table.

"Not yet," Arthur muttered. "Classes may not resume for Defence for the next week. But I'm sure Dumbledore will get it sorted."

James nodded, before he and the others climbed the stairs to their dorm. William Wolfe and Michael Tate, the two other boys they shared a room with, were already there.

"That was you, wasn't it?" William drawled, eyes landing on the three. James flashed him the most innocent look he could muster.

"What was us, Wills?"

William rolled his eyes as he took out a set of robes from his suitcase and placed them in a drawer. "The exploding Pumpkin Juice."

Sirius began to laugh, as he opened his own suitcase and knelt down. "Here, Pete, want these?" Much to the delight of Peter, Sirius dug out a box of chocolate frogs and handed them over.

"Thanks."

"And what makes you think it was us?" James asked, still grinning as he sat on his bed.

"Because I've had to put up with you for the last year, that's why," William snapped back. "You four need to be careful – we don't have a permanent Head to stick up for us right now, and Slughorn will be taking off any points he can if his Slytherins come under threat."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "The Cup...actually, yeah, it matters, but Remus answers enough questions right in class to get any points we lose back."

"I thought it was brilliant," Michael commented. "But Will is right. You're going to have the whole of Gryffindor out for your blood if you lose too many points."

"That's if we're caught," James remarked, as Remus climbed into his bed and drew the curtains. From there, as he undressed, he listened to the rest of the conversation. "And it was harmless. Anyway, they have no way of proving if it was us or not."

Remus had taken, from his suitcase along with his clothes, a pile of papers. He quickly rifled through them, before sliding out a piece of parchment and placing the rest on the bedside table. The conversation outside carried on.

"You're getting too arrogant," William snapped. "Anyone who looked at you once it started exploding could have seen it on your faces! And the Slytherins hate you enough as it is! If they can't get to you, if they can't prove it was you and get you punished by the school, then they're going to try something else, Potter."

James scoffed, as Remus scanned the parchment in his hands. It was a chart, a moon chart, to be precise.

"Like what?"

Silence reigned, and Remus guessed the boys were beginning to get ready for bed.

"Just, be more careful," Michael begged. "If you're going to keep doing it..."

He heard the rustling of curtains as he checked the dates beside the next full moon.

"Fine," Sirius grumbled, from his bed. "Fine, we'll be more careful. Happy now?"

He had fourteen days.

X X X

Their first class of the week was Transfiguration, with Ravenclaw. The second years waited patiently outside the class for McGonagall – already inside – to let them in. All of them were early, knowing the Professor hated late comers and was prone to take points off anyone more than a minute late.

The door opened, and McGonagall scanned the waiting students before informing them they could enter.

"Chose your seats wisely," she said, as they filtered in. "Whoever you sit beside will be your partner for the next year, unless I decide the pairings are unwise." Her gaze fell on Sirius and James. "You will be working together on a project, and it is expected that you will help each other receive the highest marks you can."

"You sit next to Peter, will you?" James whispered to Remus. "If anyone can help him, it's you."

"All right," Remus muttered, forcing himself to smile at Peter as James and Sirius sat on the end of one row of four, with Remus and Peter at the other end. In front of them sat William and Michael, beside Lily Evans and Alice Prewitt. Two of the other Gryffindor girls sat in the front row, the third girl forced to pair up with one of the Ravenclaw boys. As the students were prone to do, they had split into their houses, with the Ravenclaws on the other half of the room.

"At the end of the year, the partners with the best results will receive a small prize for their efforts. I expect everyone to try their hardest at this – although it seems like a long way off, in just a few short years you will be sitting your OWLs, followed by your NEWTs. I will take on, for Transfiguration NEWTs, only those students who have shown effort throughout their school years, as I explained to you previously. Though I doubt many of you remember what you were told at the start of last year. Nevertheless, if you did find yourselves struggling last year, now is the time to redeem yourselves."

She turned the board, waving her wand at it. Words in white appeared across it.

"Write this down." There was a rustling as people rolled out their parchment and opened pots of ink, dipping their quills into it before copying the words on the board. "This is the list of tasks you will be expected to complete at the end of the year. Some spells will be taught in class, while others will be left up to you to practice and master, with the class sessions serving as building blocks to aid you."

Eyes darted up and down, writing out the various tasks. There were fifteen in total; the first two were ones they had looked at briefly the previous year, and Remus knew, from his own reading, that the tasks grew more difficult and complicated the further down the list. Fifteen, he could tell, was going to be a real challenge.

For the last task, they were to transform a small mammal (an example was given next to it; a mouse) into a small fish or reptile.

He was sure it was way beyond their level.

McGonagall confirmed his thoughts.

"I do not expect any of you to totally master the final task," she informed them. "It is given more as an attempt, though I do expect you to try your hardest and, at least, attempt to accomplish it."

A few students groaned, though Remus could see a couple of Ravenclaws smirking.

He was surprised; they really did think they would be able to do it.

"Now, for today's lessons, take out your books." More ruffling as people rummaged through their bags and took out the required texts. "Read chapter five, take notes...it should help refresh your memory for the first two tasks. If you finish the chapter, read chapters six and seven and, if that is done, feel free to practice the spells. I assume your brains are rusted from the summer, so there is no need to be worried if you do not get it the first time. Anything not finished is homework, and next lesson you will be expected to show your current progress. Good luck."

X X X

History of Magic was the only lesson which even Remus wished they did not have to attend. Unlike most other classes, it was only the Gryffindors in the History lesson. But that was not why Remus disliked it; no, Remus hated the fact that most of what they were told, he could learn on his own. Plus Professor Binns, who had died so long ago no one in living memory remembered him alive, (or so was said) was so boring that James and Sirius often paid no attention at all, leaving Remus to inform them what, exactly, had been covered in class.

Professor Binns started the lesson as he always did. He drifted through the wall, and began what was, essentially, a lecture. Almost immediately, the other students tuned out, doodling on their parchment or falling asleep. Remus and Lily, however, paid rapt attention.

Despite his dislike for the class itself, he knew the only way to pass was to know, exactly, what areas had been covered by the ghost.

Goblin rebellions were all well and good, but Remus knew the history of the wizarding world was much more fascinating that Binns ever made it out to be. His drawl made even the interesting aspects sound dull.

In that lesson, on the first day of term, Binns was talking about one of the oldest myths in the wizarding world.

The story of Merlin.

And even that, coming from his mouth and being passed on to the second years in the classroom, was boring.

Every so often, when he mentioned something the students recognised – King Arthur, Celts or even Merlin himself – other students would suddenly be staring intently at Binns, paying attention in the hopes that things would get interesting.

Inevitably his drawl, his very way of speaking, would soon switch them off.

James was yawning when they came out of the class.

"Well," he sighed, shaking his head. "That was certainly..."

"Boring," Sirius mumbled, rolling his eyes. "What was he talking about, Remus?"

"Merlin," Remus explained. "And we have to write a report on why wizards had to go into hiding after Merlin, why they were no longer able to practice magic in the opening in front of Muggles."

Peter's jaw dropped.

"Really? But it was so...boring."

"Don't worry, Pete," James chuckled, clapping his friend on the back. "I'm sure Remus telling it will be much more interesting."

"Maybe you should have just been listening, Potter," Lily chirped, as she and Alice passed the boys. James opened his mouth to reply, only to quickly shut it as the girls turned the corner, out of sight, heads bowed together as they giggled over something.

"Come on." James quickened his pace. "Let's get to lunch – I'm starving."

X X X 

As the other three scooped food onto their plates, Remus checked his timetable.

"Well, we're supposed to have Defence next but the notice board said to take it as a free period."

He slid the piece of parchment back into his pocket, before helping himself to a couple of sandwiches. The others were happily munching away, and at the mention of a free period, James' face lit up.

"Fancy coming to the pitch, Sirius?" he asked, glancing at his friend.

Sirius shrugged. "Sure. When are the tryouts?"

"End of this week."

"What if you don't get onto the team?" Peter squeaked. "It's meant to be really hard for second years, isn't it?"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Pete," James mumbled, speaking around mouthfuls of food.

"Ugh, disgusting. Weren't you ever told not to eat with your mouth full, Potter?" The comment had come from Lily. She stood behind Remus, clutching a pile of books to her chest and frowning at James.

James swallowed. "It's none of your business, Evans."

She sighed, before her eyes darted to Remus. "Listen, Remus, me and Alice were thinking of trying to set up a study group for Defence. Just so we don't fall too far behind – no one really knows when Dumbledore will get another teacher."

"We were told end of the week," Sirius cut in, frowning at the girl. "And where's our invites?"

"I didn't think you would care enough," she drawled, before returning her attention to Remus. "What about you, Remus? We were just going to meet in the Common Room for the free period, today."

Unsure, he glanced at his friends. James shrugged. "Might as well," he suggested, though his tone was dark. "Don't want to fall behind," he grumbled, eyes snapping to Lily.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Well, if you do decide to join us, Remus, you know where we'll be." She turned, heading back to the other end of the table, where Alice waited for her.

"Would you really mind?" Remus asked, glancing from James, to Sirius and finally, to Peter. Peter shrugged.

"I wouldn't."

"It does seem a bit unfair," James said, frowning as he glanced towards Lily and Alice. "But that's their fault, not yours. If you want to, Remus, then don't let us stop you."

"It will help," he muttered. "And if we do learn anything I think might be handy..."

"You'll tell us," Sirius finished, grinning. "You're a great friend, Remus."

Under the praise, Remus blushed. He glanced down at his food, before his eyes darted back up. "So are you."

"Pete, what you going to do with your free period?" James asked, looking to the boy.

Peter shrugged, before letting out a yawn. "Nap," he sighed. "Sirius' snoring kept me awake last night."

They laughed.

Shortly after, the four finished their lunch. With half of the lunch break to go, and a free period after, Sirius and James decided to make the most of it. They said their goodbyes to Peter and Remus, before heading outside to the pitch, while the other two made their way back towards the Gryffindor Common Room.


	6. Chapter 6

Waiting for the girls to arrive, Remus had decided to get started on helping Peter with the Transfiguration work they had to do. He knew he would have to push the other boy, hard, to ensure they both did well on the tasks handed to them by McGonagall.

"I will try, Remus," Peter said, as Remus opened up the book and glanced to where Peter had got to in class. "I promise. I don't want you getting a bad mark because of me."

Remus smiled. "Just do your best, Peter. I'm sure we'll be fine."

When Lily and Alice did return, they sat around the fire, with William and Michael. Lily glanced up, gesturing for Remus and Peter to join them.

"I don't mind you studying with us, Pettigrew," Lily sighed, as the two boys sat down. "It's just Black and Potter I can't stand."

"They're not too bad," Michael said, glancing nervously at Remus. "And they are bright, too."

"Yeah, but neither seems too bothered about work," Alice cut in, frowning. "James does, at times, but..."

"Let's just get studying, shall we?" Remus glanced around at them, feeling uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking. "James and Sirius are practicing for the tryouts, anyway."

William scoffed. "Like they'll be able to get on the team. Second years hardly ever do."

"James is a good flyer." Peter frowned, fixing his gaze on William. "And Sirius, too. If they don't get on..."

"So, this is the book for this year, yeah?" Remus held the book in front of him. "Seems pretty standard, doesn't it?"

"The teachers usually compile the lists," William explained. "I guess, without a teacher, the others had to put it together. And they won't know what exactly we'll be taught, so..."

Remus nodded. "So how are we going to do this?"

"Well, I thought, just read over the first few pages," Lily muttered, "and if any of us get stuck on something, we ask each other. I'm sure there will be points where some of us know more than others." A light blush appeared on her cheeks, as she glanced at Michael.

"She means that we have a disadvantage, being Muggle-born." Michael fixed his eyes on Lily. "Though I don't know why you're worried – everyone knows you're one of the top in our year."

The others nodded in agreement, as the red blush on Lily's cheeks deepened. "Right, well, shall we get started on chapter one, then?"

X X X 

The pitch was empty when James and Sirius arrived. James clutched his own broom in hand, while Sirius retrieved a school broom.

"My dad said I would only get a broom if I made the team," Sirius explained. "Said that at least then I could prove I was worth something." He rolled his eyes as both boys climbed onto their brooms and kicked off.

"Few laps around before we get the balls out?" James suggested, and Sirius nodded in agreement.

They moved to the goal posts, stationing themselves behind it. "Can you imagine if we made the team?" Sirius commented, as they lined up near one of the stands. "Playing against Slytherin – we'd have three quarters of the school cheering our names!"

A grin lit up James' face. "The admiration of all of them, too. We're good enough to do it, Sirius."

"Three laps, loser hands over three chocolate frogs?"

"You're on!"

The two set off, speeding around the pitch. It was soon apparent that James' broom gave him a slightly better edge. He flew just ahead of Sirius, whooping and laughing whenever the other boy came close to taking him over. Sirius bent low, chest right against the broom as he focused on catching up with his friend.

Inevitably, James was the first to complete the three laps.

Sirius came to a stop next to him, sweat dripping from his forehead as he glared at James.

"The broom's better," James panted, wiping sweat from his own face. "Forget about the frogs."

Sirius shrugged. "Nah – it wasn't just the broom. Come on, I'll act as Keeper."

James nodded, turning and diving towards the ground as Sirius hovered in front of the goals. After grabbing the quaffle, James began to fly back up.

He stopped, glancing to where Sirius waited.

A memory filled him, of coming out to the pitch and meeting Professor York there. The flying instructor had been encouraging, had helped James improve, helped James to focus.

"I'll get on the team," he whispered, before continuing his flight upwards. "I'll do it, sir, for you."

X X X

Panting and drenched in sweat, James and Sirius returned to the Common Room just in time to grab a quick shower, before they had to head to the dungeons with the rest of the Gryffindor first years for Potions.

"How'd studying go?" James asked, glancing at Remus.

Remus shrugged. "Yeah, it wasn't too bad," he muttered. The progress had been slow – on almost every page, at least one of the group found something they needed an explanation or clarification for. Most of the time it had been Peter, and Remus got the distinct impression from the others, mainly William, that they would have preferred the smaller boy not to have been there.

He worried that Peter had picked up on it, too. He had been quiet since they had left the Common Room, keeping his head bowed as they moved through the castle.

To an extent, it annoyed Remus.

He had seen the previous year that Peter wasn't stupid. The boy just needed encouragement, kindness and patience. He always got there in the end, and James, Sirius and Remus were all willing to help him. But James, in Transfiguration, had been right; Remus more often than not had a knack for getting information through to Peter in ways that the other two couldn't.

They slipped into the classroom.

The Gryffindors had Potions with the Slytherins, and like every other class, the houses split up. The Slytherins dominated one side of the room, while the Gryffindors took over the other.

This time, James offered to sit beside Peter, leaving Remus and Sirius to sit next to each other.

"I hate Potions," Sirius grumbled.

"Sorry to hear that, Mr Black," Professor Slughorn chuckled, as he came in from the door at the back of the classroom. As Gryffindors laughed, Sirius' face went a light shade of red. "Hopefully this year will change your mind."

He took his place at the front of the room, before turning to them. There was the distinct impression that Slughorn, much like a few of the other teachers, had aged more than he should have over the holidays. Flecks of grey were now evident in his hair, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

"Welcome to your first class of your second year," he began, a smile on his face. His eyes landed on James, before roaming towards Sirius. "I do hope, this year, you begin to take your studies more seriously than last. Though saying that, you are still some way off the most serious aspects of your education here. But don't get me wrong; that time will fly. Before you know it, you'll be approaching old age and looking back on your days here with fond memories." He paused, eyes taking in the faces of the students watching him. "I hope." For just the briefest second, just long enough for Remus to notice, his eyes landed on Snape.

Snape was, by far, the most skilled at Potions. The boy seemed to have a natural knack for it – almost all his work, the previous year, had received high praise from Slughorn.

So why, Remus wondered, had the last comment been directed at the Potions wonder-boy?

"With that in mind," Slughorn continued, clapping his hands together, "I would like to emphasise a certain point. All of you are smart enough to do this."

Peter scoffed.

"Even you, Mr Pettigrew. I saw evidence of it last year and I expect it to continue this year. And never," his gaze locked on Peter, "be afraid to ask for help. From either myself or your fellow students. You are here to learn and, after all, I am here to teach. Now, if you open your books to page fifty-two, you will see instructions for the first potion we will be working on this year."

The students did as they were told, and were soon set on the task. They clambered to the store cupboards, gathering ingredients and carrying them back to their tables, where they squashed beetles and cut up plants, throwing them into their cauldrons, all focused on the task at hand.

X X X

"You're quiet, Sirius."

The comment came from James at dinner time, while other students chatted happily and ate their food. They had been served a simple yet delicious meal, consisting of bread rolls and spaghetti bolognaise. All of them dished out large helpings onto their plates, eating happily.

Sirius forced himself to smile. "Just tired, that's all." He brushed away James' comment, returning to his food. James seemed to accept his answer, as he asked Remus what, exactly, had been covered in his little study meeting with Evans and the others.

He seemed particularly interested in who was in the group.

The conversation carried on, as Sirius picked at his food. He heard mention of Quidditch from Remus, before James dived into telling him about the practice. Glancing up the table, Sirius spotted a few of the current team.

They were a decent team, there was no doubt about it. But the captain had decided that none of them would get an automatic spot – none of their places were guaranteed. And Sirius knew it was more than likely that one of the places would go to James. The previous year he'd seen how natural flying was to James. Almost like he was part-bird.

The thought made Sirius smile.

But Sirius was different.

He was a decent flyer, he knew that much. But he wasn't a natural. Not like James. And at their age, it was the naturals who would get a place on the team.

Sirius would have to wait and hope that no new natural flyers joined Gryffindor in the next couple of years.

"Sirius?"

He looked up to see James studying him carefully. "Mate, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," Sirius forced himself to say. "Yeah, I'm fine."

X X X 

For the next few days, they put up with the introduction classes and explanations for what would be expected of them that year. They moved from classroom to classroom, teachers pushing on them the importance to focus, to work, to expand their minds.

By the end of the week, it was announced that Professor Flitwick, who had been filling in as temporary Head of Ravenclaw, would take over the role permanently. McGonagall, as the newest member of staff, was still only a temporary Head of Gryffindor.

The tryouts for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team took place on Thursday evening. After dinner – and the announcement about Flitwick – the hopefuls made their way to the pitch.

Students from every year except first left the castle, sticking to themselves or in groups of two. Conversation was quick, rushed, as a few friends and well-wishers made their way to watch the tryouts, to cheer on those friends who were trying for the team.

James spotted William and Michael slipping through the small crowd.

"Wolfe!" he called, giving the boy a quick nod when William saw him. "You coming to cheer us on?"

William scoffed. "As if, Potter. I'm trying out for the team."

"Good luck," Sirius chuckled. "You'll need it."

"Come on, be nice," James sighed, smiling at William. "All in the same boat, right?"

William rolled his eyes, dragging Michael onwards.

In the changing rooms, the atmosphere was tense. The current team changed at one end, eyeing the possible new recruits, while those not on the team stared wearily at each other, judging the competition. Soon, they moved out onto the pitch. Michael, Remus and Peter sat together in the stands, and the three waved, putting their thumbs up as William, James and Sirius walked out.

The captain, one of the beaters for the team called Gerard Floss, stood in the middle of the pitch, the box of balls beside him. His eyes locked on the group.

The sun was beginning to set, casting an orange and red glow over the pitch as Gerard opened his mouth to speak.

"Welcome to the Gryffindor Quidditch try-outs." He glanced up at the sky. "We'll set up some lights when it gets dark. For now, I want you to just listen. We had a good team, last year, but I believe there is always the potential for new talent to emerge." His eyes, with a sorry gaze, fell on the current team, still gathered together. "Which is why they will be trying out alongside the rest of you."

Gerard began to pace, moving back and forth in front of the group.

"If you get onto the team, you will be training at least two evenings a week, plus on the weekend, more in the approach to a match. You will be pushed, and you will need to keep healthy, keep fit. It is not easy. Anyone who doesn't think they can handle it should leave now." He stopped, turning to look at them. A smile crossed his face. "Good. Now, there's twenty of you trying out, plus those on the current team means twenty-five in all. Get on your brooms. Five laps around the pitch – last five are out."

They got onto their brooms, flying up and positioning themselves behind the goalposts. James glanced at Sirius. A sheen of sweat was already forming on his forehead.

"You'll be fine," James whispered.

Beside him, William scoffed.

Gerard flew up, hovering in the middle of the pitch. "Ready?" he called, raising a whistle to his lips. James glanced into the stands. Peter gave him a thumbs up. All around him were people who wanted to be on the team as much as he did, people who were willing to do whatever it took to get there.

He took a deep breath, as they all tightened their grips on their brooms.

The whistle blew, and they took off.


	7. Chapter 7

Somewhere behind him, he heard a cry and a thump, but James refused to look. He knew already that the competition would be stiff; two of the current team members were Chasers, and good ones at that. Now, both of them flew easily past him, manoeuvring easily around the sharp turns. Out of the corner of his eye, just behind, he could see Sirius, bent low on his broom with his tongue sticking out.

James took the turn and glimpsed William, almost smack bang in the middle. He passed by Remus and Peter, ignoring their cheers and cries, and focused only on the task ahead. So far, he was in the front group, along with the current team and a couple of others.

Sirius grunted, yanking his broom sharply to turn left. His hand slipped, the sweat making it more difficult to grip the broomstick, and he wished he had gloves. The team got them automatically, but the others were supposed to bring their own. James had remembered; Sirius, along with a few others, had forgotten. He was just thankful he hadn't fallen like the third year boy at the last bend.

Ahead, he could see James flying like the wind, almost literally. He'd always known he wouldn't stand a chance against his best friend – James was, without a doubt, a natural flyer.

Still, he could make himself feel better by the fact that James was going for Chaser, while Sirius was battling it out to be a beater.

He flew past a couple that were starting to slow down, panting heavily as they tried to keep up with the rest. Soon, they'd done four laps around the pitch, and they were already down to twenty-three. The boy who had fallen had stumbled off to the hospital wing, and a girl had simply given up, flying down to the pitch and making her way into the stands to watch the rest.

Sirius wondered if they would try again next year.

They turned another corner and he dared to glance behind him; he was not in the last two, which made him feel slightly better. There were six people behind him, but now one of them bent low and dashed past him, speeding up and taking over a few in front of him, too. The girl had cropped blonde hair, and Sirius realised she had been saving her energy for this last lap.

James was somewhere in front of him, without a doubt in the top seven.

Sirius bent low, and focused.

He sped up, but only just.

Before he could gain anymore speed, he realised he'd finished the last lap.

With a smile, he landed beside James. The other boy turned to him, grinning as he high-fived Sirius.

"We did it," he panted, his hair sticking to his forehead. "We made it through, Sirius!"

Sirius gave him a weak smile. "Yeah, but we're still not on the team."

James glanced over towards the current team-members, congratulating each other on having completed the first five laps the fastest. One of them, a tall, sandy haired boy with a wide smile, took a step towards James and Sirius.

"Well done," he said, with a quick nod. "You two were good. Youngest to do it that quickly."

William landed, ran a hand through his hair and stepped towards them. The sandy haired boy glanced at him.

"Looks like you were the last but one," he said, glancing up as the last student – a small, thin forth year boy – also landed. Gerard, who had been hovering in the middle of the pitch, came to join them.

"Last three," he muttered, eyeing William, the small boy and a third year girl currently scowling. "Sorry, guys, better luck next year."

William's eyes landed on James. "Good luck," he said, his voice verging on bitterness as he picked up his broom and headed for the changing rooms.

Gerard looked over the remaining students. "Those trying out for chasers, stand over there." He pointed to his right. "Beaters, there." He gestured directly in front of him, and Sirius and a couple of others moved to the spot. "Seekers," to his left, "and keepers." Further to his left. Once everyone was in their place, he studied them, eyeing the mould of every student. Sirius shifted nervously between two fifth year boys who were bigger and broader than him. With them was a surly looking girl with her arms crossed and a frown set on her face. "Right, I'm going to split you into two teams. There's twenty of you left, so ten per team." He began to split them, mixing up the current team with those trying out.

Soon, James and Sirius were standing beside each other once more. With them were three other chasers, including one from the current team, one of the boys going for a beater position, three seekers and two wannabe keepers.

"Decide among yourselves who is going to go first. I'll switch you around in a bit."

The team huddled together and, immediately, the current chaser took on the role of captain. He glanced over James and Sirius. "You two are automatically in first," he said, gesturing to Sirius and the other beater. He frowned, eyeing the rest. "Okay, so if we take you up first," he nodded to James, "plus you as a chaser," the girl beamed, "then that leaves us with you five." He folded his arms, eyes darting over the seekers and keepers. "You and you." He seemed to pick the two at random. They gave curt nods before the extra players peeled away from the group and positioned themselves near the stand.

The remaining members of each team grabbed their brooms, climbed on and kicked off.

Gerard released the balls.

The full extent of how much competition they had hit James instantly. Almost literally, as the moment he had his hands on the ball a bludger came flying his way. He ducked his head and, a moment later, saw Sirius bat it back at the opposing team. The boy winked at James before flying off, and James flew forward, swerving to avoid the other team's chaser.

He yanked his broom up, flew until he was above everyone else, and glanced down.

One of the beaters was rushing towards a bludger. The current chaser on James' team was hovering over the other side of the pitch, not too far from the goals. James threw the ball, grinning as it skimmed the hands of the opposing team's chaser. He resisted letting out a whoop as his team's chaser grabbed the ball and made his way forward, ducking and swerving to avoid bludgers, beaters and other chasers.

He realised that, instead of watching his team mate, he should have been focused on moving forward. He bent low against the broom, gripping it tightly and heading down, avoiding the main group of people trying to focus on getting the ball. James rose near the posts, just in time to see his current team mate throw towards one of the goals.

The keeper caught it, fumbled and the ball smacked against his hand, heading back out towards the players. James flew forward, ducked an incoming bludger, and grabbed the ball. Before the keeper had time to recover, he'd thrown it.

The ball sailed through the right hoop, and he heard a cheer coming from somewhere behind him. Sirius. James' face broke into a smile.

The current Gryffindor chaser glanced at him, nodding. Gerard blew the whistle around his neck.

"Nice work," he called. "You," he pointed at the third chaser on James' team. "Swap out." He did the same for the others, swapping the teams around, and James wondered if it was a good thing that he had been left in.

Eventually, the other team had scored two goals, while James and the other chasers, between them, managed to get four in all. He couldn't help but notice he was only one of two not on the current team who had scored.

Gerard called them down.

"Great work," he said, glancing around them, looking mildly impressed. "Seems we have some upcoming talent. Right, go get changed and head back to the castle. I'll have the team sheet posted on the notice board in the next couple of days."

X X X 

Remus couldn't help but notice how quiet Sirius was on the way back to the castle. Personally, he thought his friend had done well, although he couldn't quite be sure. James, on the other hand, was eager and energetic, commenting on his performance as well as the performances of other players.

"Do you think you got in?" Peter asked, as they climbed the steps to the entrance of the castle.

"Maybe," James mused. "There were some really good people trying out though. Could at least get on the reserves." James and Peter moved ahead, still discussing the other Gryffindor try-outs.

Sirius lagged behind, and Remus slowed his pace.

"Hey," Remus began. Sirius glanced up, before flashing his friend a small smile.

"Hey."

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

Remus frowned, studying his friend. "Okay, I know that's a lie."

"I'm an excellent liar!" Sirius replied, running a hand through his hair before his gaze fell on James. "I really do think James has got in, you know."

"And you think you haven't?"

Sirius shrugged. "Tough competition. I never really expected to get in, though."

Remus stopped walking, a sudden thought occurring to him. Quickly, he slid in front of Sirius, blocking his path. "You're scared that we won't have enough time together as a group if James gets in, aren't you?"

Sirius' face flushed red. "No, of course not."

Remus crossed his arms, frowning at his friend. "Sirius..." He paused, as William and Michael came in from the huge doors. Michael waved, a friendly gesture, but William, who looked annoyed, ducked his head and hurried past them. Once they were out of earshot, Remus continued. "If James does get on the team, he's not going to leave us behind. He's as loyal as a Hufflepuff."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You should have heard Gerard, Remus. And we've seen them practicing; they train all the time. Plus Gerard makes them exercise all the time. Runs around the castle, that sort of thing. He won't have time for us."

"Sure he will," Remus said, trying to reassure his friend as he patted his arm. "You'll see."

X X X

It seemed that the adrenaline of the try-outs wore off by the following morning. At breakfast, James was as quiet as Sirius, picking at his food. When Gerard entered with a couple of the current team members, James glanced up, looking as if he hoped to catch the older boy's eye.

He didn't.

They sat at the other end of the table, chatting happily as the four boys continued to eat. Peter, between mouthfuls, was asking Remus various questions as he tried to complete his Potions homework.

Once breakfast was finished, they headed down to the dungeons, Peter hastily stuffing his parchment into his bag as they went. When they arrived, the class was almost half full. Slughorn smiled at them as they entered, before beginning the lesson.

At the end, he collected their homework, and the Gryffindors headed back upstairs for Transfiguration. Once that was over with, they moved outside for Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. Neither Sirius nor James had messed around in class, and both were silent as they crossed the grounds.

"Will one of you make a quip or something, already?" Remus said, nudging Sirius.

"Yeah, you're starting to scare me," Peter added, nodding his head as they arrived at the greenhouses. Sirius just glanced away, staring at the Quidditch Pitch, while James let out an exasperated sigh.

"What if I don't make the team?"

"Then you'll try again next year," Remus replied, as they waited for their professor to arrive. "Both of you."

James nodded, biting his bottom lip before crossing his arms. "I managed to score that goal, but it was a fluke. I wouldn't have had a chance if the keeper hadn't fumbled the ball..."

"But that's part of it," Sirius said, turning around and staring at James. "You spotted an opportunity, you took it. That's a good thing in a player."

"You were pretty good, Sirius," Peter chirped up. "You managed to keep the bludger away from the team..."

"For the most part," he groaned. "Merlin, one almost hit Luke Smith because I missed it."

"It happens." James glanced at the Hufflepuffs, before turning back to the others. "Do you think the other teams have had their try-outs yet?"

"The Ravenclaws have," Remus told him. "I heard them talking about it. But all the teams are being really strict about who's allowed to watch the try-outs, apparently. Some Slytherin students tried to sneak into the Ravenclaw try-outs and ended up being hexed. They're in the hospital wing, now."

"When in Merlin's name did you hear all that?" James asked, blinking at Remus as if he'd seen a god.

Remus grinned. "I was in the library this morning before you three got up. Wanted some more books about Defence."

"You're mental," Sirius said. "I can't believe you'd get up early for that."

"I was awake already." It was the truth; the full-moon was coming up and for around a week before it, Remus found it difficult to sleep. He would end up awake most of the night, and only sleep for a few hours.

"Well, at least we know," James muttered, as the professor appeared from a greenhouse further down and made her way towards them.

X X X 

After Herbology, the pair remained subdued. Remus was starting to miss the energy they usually had, and just prayed they would return to normal after the list was posted. Once they'd eaten lunch, they headed to the common room and Remus began work on their latest Transfiguration assignment. They had a free period afterwards, which was supposed to be filled by Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Every time Gerard came in, James would almost flinch. He'd glance up, watching as the older boy moved past the notice board, and sink back down.

The rest of the day passed too slowly for Remus' liking. Eventually, after they'd finished the lessons for the day, had eaten dinner and passed the time in the common room, it was time for bed. He was more than grateful; Sirius' and James' lack of energy was starting to drain him.

They said their goodnights and climbed into bed, Remus wishing that Gerard would post up the list sooner rather than later.

**A/N: I can't say this enough, but a huge thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed, simply read, added this to their favourites/alerts or added me to their favourites/alerts. I've tried writing a MWPP story in the past, but always stopped it as I had no motivation. Now, thanks to my lovely readers, not only have I done one but I'm doing a sequel! And enjoying every minute of it. Hope you are too.**

**Let me know what you think by clicking the blue button below.  
>And, if the wait between updates is getting too much, (sorry!) then feel free to check me out on Fictionpress, under the same name. Thanks. <strong>


	8. Chapter 8

Saturday evening, after dinner, Remus was surprised to see James and Sirius both quietly getting on with their homework. He sat in one of the armchairs, reading a book his parents had picked up for him in Diagon Alley. He'd been waiting for the chance to read it for a while, and having got his current work done, he found he had the time.

He glanced up, watching as Sirius wrote something down, his tongue poking out the side of his mouth.

"This doesn't feel right," Remus muttered, shaking his head as he glanced at Peter. The boy nodded in agreement.

"What doesn't?" James asked, glancing up only briefly before his attention returned to his work.

"You two doing work, on a Saturday evening," Remus explained. "And, well, not asking to copy mine, either."

Sirius shrugged. "Might as well do something."

Remus frowned, before returning to his book.

"What are you reading, anyway?" Peter asked, gazing at the book with curiosity. Remus tilted it so the other boy could see the cover. _A History of Magic on the Sea; Pirates and Wizards_. "Oh," Peter muttered, blushing as he asked, "so what's it about?"

Remus grinned. "Mainly pirates and wizards. Apparently, quite a lot of boats had someone on they thought possessed magical powers. For the most part it was rumours, used so other ships would be scared of them. I ended up reading some of it last year, but Mum and Dad brought me this copy in the summer."

James was staring at him, nodding slowly. "So...were there wizards on the seas?"

"Yeah," Remus chuckled, before telling them about the boat of wizards attacked by pirates, originally heading for the New World only to end up back in Great Britain. "But some of them ended up joining the pirates, becoming marauders themselves."

James leant forward, looking thoughtful. "Marauders?"

"People who raid and pillage," Remus explained. "Usually for spoils of some sort. You can borrow it when I'm done, if you like."

The other boy leant back, his hands in his lap as he stared down at the table. "Yeah, thanks, Remus."

"No problem."

They returned to their work, and Remus returned to his book. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when Gerard came into the Common Room, stopped at the notice board and pin something up. James and Sirius were both looking up from their work, eyes fixed on Gerard. He turned, nodded at them though it was hard to tell if it was both or just one, and which one? and then headed towards the dormitories.

The pair scrambled off the chairs and over to the board.

Remus watched the expressions on their faces. James' changed from one of sheer fear to pure joy. Sirius' dropped, before he turned to his friend, grinned and clapped him on the back. Remus and Peter stood and joined them at the board.

There, under _Team_, was written _James Potter Chaser_. Under _Reserves, _Sirius Black Beater.

"That's good, isn't it?" Peter muttered, glancing at Sirius. "At least you might get to play. And don't reserves usually have a better chance of getting on the team the following year?"

Sirius grinned at him. "Yeah, you're right."

James stepped back, his shoulders relaxing as he let out a low whistle.

"I can't believe it," he whispered. "Did I...my name is James Potter, isn't it?"

The other three laughed. "Congratulations," Remus said, clapping his friend on the back. "You got on the team!"

Under the list was a note. _Practice for Team Members Reserves on Monday. First game vs. Hufflepuff, two weeks from today_.

"The game's pretty soon," James muttered, stepping back from the board. "Sirius, fancy going to the pitch now to practice?"

"Really?" Peter glanced out the window. "It's less than an hour until dark."

"So we'll practice until dark," James replied. "You up for it, Sirius?"

The other boy nodded. "Yeah, sure. Let's go."

X X X

Monday evening, and Remus ended up dragging Peter to the library, determined to continue studying Defence, even if they didn't have any classes. They said good bye to the other two in the Entrance Hall, before watching a very excited pair make their way down to the pitch.

Outside, James was surprised to see Michael and William sitting under a tree. William glanced up, frowned at them before quickly looking away. He decided to ignore it. William hadn't said a word to either him or Sirius since Saturday evening, although he had made a point of discussing work with Remus.

He'd already decided to ignore it. If William was going to act bitter about the weekend, then James and Sirius would have to rise about it. There was no point wasting time with him.

Soon they were at the pitch, standing with the rest of the current team and the reserves. Gerard stood in front of them, arms folded as he surveyed the newest recruits.

"Right, firstly, well done to all of you. Including the reserves." His eyes fell on those who had joined the reserves team. "All of our reserves last year were seventh years; some of them had willingly left the main team to focus on schoolwork." He let out a wistful sigh, as if he really couldn't understand the logic behind the decision. "Anyway the reserves will practice with us once a week. Bobby there is the reserve captain." He gestured to one of the reserve chasers, who lifted a hand in a wave to everyone else. "And he'll be organising the rest of their practices. As for our main team, we practice Mondays and Wednesdays, and next week we'll be out here every evening possible, understand?"

They all nodded.

"Good. I expect to see you doing runs around the castle, too, when you have the time. And for Merlin's sakes, try to eat slightly healthy, okay? You need to keep your body in shape. Now, grab your brooms we're going to play against the reserves for now."

James glanced over at Sirius, flashing him a wide smile, before everyone grabbed their brooms and flew up into the air.

X X X

On Wednesday morning, after the owls had delivered the post, Dumbledore stood and stepped forward, lifting his hands up. The hall fell completely silent, every eye turning to gaze at him.

"Good morning," he began, his eyes twinkling as he surveyed the students patiently waiting for him to say more. "I hope you are enjoying your first weeks of school, and your heads are slowly filling up with the information forgotten over your summer holidays."

There were some light chuckles across the hall. Sirius leant forward, whispering, "What do you think it's about?"

"Defence," Remus replied, so certain that Sirius wondered if he'd spoken to another teacher about it.

"As you are well aware, you have had some free periods since the start of term, which were meant to be spent in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. I can only hope you have been spending them productively, although I understand the lure of free time is much too strong for some of you."

Lily beamed at Alice.

"But, as of this afternoon, those free periods will be spent in the lesson they were designed for. Your new professor will be arriving at lunch time, so anyone with Defence after that point should report to the classroom. Thank you."

He sat back down, and the students broke into chatter, throwing theories back and forth about who the new professor might be.

"I hope it's another ex-Auror," James said, as they gathered their bags and began to set off for their first class. It was no secret to the other three that James had really liked their old Defence professor; Caedmon had been a good teacher, and it had been hard on everyone when his death had been announced.

Remus nodded, but wasn't quite sure he agreed. He'd liked Caedmon, but he couldn't help but wonder if it was because of his profession that he had died.

By lunchtime, rumours were spreading like wildfire about the new professor. Some suggested he was a ghost, like Binns. Others said a werewolf would be joining them, but older students dismissed them, grunting that Dumbledore wouldn't dare put them in that much danger.

Remus kept his mouth shut, but couldn't ignore the looks James sent him as they moved past the students discussing the werewolf theory. Sirius and Peter, darting ahead and deep in conversation revolving around Quidditch, didn't see James place a hand on Remus' shoulder, squeezing gently before he whispered, "Don't listen to them. They don't know anything."

After lunch, the rumours were still being discussed. The students that had had Defence that afternoon just smiled when asked, refusing to reveal anything about the new professor. They whoever they were didn't turn up to dinner, and the rumours grew more wild.

"It's a vampire, apparently," a third year commented over dinner. "Apparently they had to make the class completely sun-proof, which is why they're not coming to dinner." He gestured to the roof, showing the sun only just starting to set. "It's just a little too early for them, see?"

"That's more ridiculous than a werewolf," Sirius scoffed. "At least a werewolf would, you know, only have a bit of a furry problem. But a vampire? In a room full of students with fresh blood? Please."

James glanced at Remus, glad to see a small smile tugging at the boy's lips.

Later that night, James woke from a dream of winning the Quidditch World Cup. He opened his curtains and spotted Remus' bed, empty with the curtains open. Wondering where the other boy was, he climbed out of bed and made his way to the common room. The fire was lit, and Remus sat on one of the armchairs, curled up and staring into the flames.

Softly, so as not to startle the boy, James called his name. Remus turned, glanced at him and nodded, before gesturing to one of the empty seats. James joined his friend, remaining silent, knowing that whatever was on the boy's mind, he would be told eventually.

Finally, after a while, Remus spoke.

"Maybe I should try to become a Professor," he mused, still watching the flames. "Prove them wrong."

"You still thinking about the werewolf comments?"

Remus' nod was slow, thoughtful. He sighed. "That and...maybe I should tell Sirius and Peter."

"I won't argue with that," James replied, unable to help the small smile that spread across his face. "I really do think they'll be fine with it, Remus."

"Maybe. But they're both from pure-blood families; they would have heard the stories."

"But they know you. And Sirius doesn't listen to anything that comes from his family. Anyway, you heard what he said today."

"A bit of a furry problem," Remus chuckled. "Yeah, I heard. That's what's made me think..." He stopped, shaking his head. "I'm still not sure, James."

"Look, mate, all I can really say is tell them when you're ready. If you're ready, great. If not...if not then we'll just keep it between us, still. I'll stick by you whatever, you know that."

The smile on his face grew. "Yeah, I know."

James reached forward, his hand landing on Remus' shoulder. He squeezed gently. "Let me know if you decide to tell them, yeah? I'll make sure I'm there when you do."

"Thanks."

He grinned at Remus. "Hey, what are friends for, right? So, what do you think this new professor is like?"

"I have no idea," Remus chuckled. "Although...they can't be too bad, everyone who's had them seems pretty happy."

"True." James yawned, shaking his head as he did so. "I'm going to head back to bed. You'll come up soon, right?"

Remus nodded. "Yeah, I will."

"Okay, night, Remus."

"Night."


	9. Chapter 9

The second year Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students gathered in the classroom, glancing around at the new touches put in since they had last been inside. On the walls were posters of various dark creatures, text around the drawings with details on how to spot and kill the creatures.

Remus quite liked the werewolf one.

It showed a perfectly normal wizard, smiling and waving . As he watched, the wizard morphed, mirroring the change Remus went through every month. Strengths and vulnerabilities were listed, along with a note staring that werewolves were, on the whole, not dangerous except for during the full moon.

_Use of silver can kill a werewolf, but can also subdue one. Must be remembered that unlike other dark creatures, a werewolf is still a human._

Excitement bubbled up in the room, as they waited for their new professor.

The door at the back of the room opened, revealing a tall, slightly muscular woman with dark hair and scars lining her face and arms. She stepped in, smiling at them as she took her place behind the desk."Put your books away," she barked, before waving her wand. Text appeared on the blackboard behind her.

_What do you already know?_

"Welcome to your first Defence Against the Dark Arts class of the year," she said, her smile widening. "I am Professor Harpo, former hunter for the Ministry of Magic."

The students who understood her words gaped. Lily Evans frowned, before putting her hand in the air.

"Yes, Miss..."

"Evans. Sorry, Professor, but what is a hunter?"

Harpo smiled. "You are a muggle-born, Miss Evans?" Lily nodded. "Good. I am glad to see you have no qualms about clarifying information." Her eyes roamed briefly around the class. "I want you to know that, if at any point you do not understand something I said, you have to ask me. No point getting left behind because of a misunderstanding. Now, would anyone like to explain to Miss Evans what a hunter is?"

Various hands shot into the air, and Professor Harpo gestured to a Ravenclaw boy. He spoke with awe.

"A hunter is tasked with finding dark creatures who may be causing trouble. They have to either subdue or eliminate the creature."

"Excellent, ten points to Ravenclaw." Professor Harpo gestured to the board. "So, what do you already know? I thought we'd start with a quick question and answer, just to see where your level of knowledge is at the moment. So, first question – does anyone know the difference between a spell and a curse?"

More hands shot into the air. Still smiling, Harpo pointed out to William to answer the question. The rest of the class was pretty much the same, with Professor Harpo asking about various topics they had covered the previous year.

The class was soon drawing to an end.

"Excellent!" she cried, clapping her hands together after James had answered her last question. "Absolutely excellent. It seems Professor Caedmon taught you all brilliantly – everyone in this school is, without a doubt, beyond the standard for Defence. For homework, I want you to find out something you did not know but find interesting about Defence Against the Dark Arts. You will report it to the class next lesson, and I will permit you to work in twos or threes. You may go."

They began to file out, but as the first Ravenclaws left, Professor Harpo spoke again.

"Miss Evans, Mr Lupin, may I speak to you for a moment?"

Both students glanced uncertainly at their friends, who shrugged and said they'd wait outside. Lily and Remus approached the desk, swapping glances as the last students filed out.

"Miss Evans, first, I think."

Remus took a step back as Harpo sat in her chair and smiled at Lily.

"Now, from the notes and exams last year, it's seems to me that you are one of the brightest students in your year. You seem very keen, Miss Evans, and for that I feel you will go far." She leant forward, lowering her voice slightly. "It's not easy coming here from a muggle background, is it?"

Lily blushed. "Not really, but I had help," she whispered.

"Good! Keep your friends close and your enemies as far away as possible." Her smile grew. "My parents were stunned when they discovered I was a witch. Never believed in fairy tales and myths before I came here. I think they've stopped having heart attacks every time I disappear for a while, though. Have you given any consideration to what you may like to do after school, Miss Evans?"

Lily looked surprised. "I'm not sure, at the moment. I...someone mentioned the Universities, last year. Or maybe teaching."

"You could do both, you know," Professor Harpo mused. "But I'm glad you said teaching. I was wondering if you'd be interested in tutoring some of the first year students? Especially some of the muggle-borns. I fear that a few of them are a bit intimidated here, and I'd like them to be able to feel more comfortable. Someone closer to their age...well, they'd feel better asking you anything they didn't quite understand."

"Yeah, I'd...I'd love to!"

"Great. I'll contact you shortly about it. That is all, Miss Evans."

Lily nodded, flashing a grin at Remus over her shoulder before darting out of the room. Harpo gestured to Remus, and he slid forward, fiddling with the strap of his bag.

"Now, Mr Lupin..."

"I was considering teaching, too," he muttered, dipping his head down as he felt himself blush. "As a possible future career option."

To his surprise, she laughed. "Right in there, I like it. I'll put you down for tutoring, too. Like Miss Evans, you seem to be one of the brightest in your year. Along with...I assume Mr Black and Potter are your friends?"

Remus nodded.

"I have been warned about them," she chuckled. "But I actually wanted to talk to you about something different, Mr Lupin."

She reached into her drawer, and pulled out a photograph. It showed a younger Professor Harpo, her hair longer and her face marked by only one scar, happily waving at the camera in front of the Eiffel Tower. Tourists moved around in the background. Next to her stood a man with bushy brown hair and a thick beard, grinning madly as he, too, waved.

"This is Marcus Galois. An old friend of mine. You and him have a lot in common." He couldn't be sure if he saw it, but for a split second he thought he saw her gaze shift to the werewolf poster. "He's a good, kind man. Currently working with another friend to produce a potion to dull the effects of the full moon on certain individuals."

Remus' breath caught in his throat. "He's a werewolf?"

She nodded, before placing a small piece of parchment on the table. "This is his address. I want you to know that if you ever want to talk, I am here for you. And you're also welcome to write to Marcus. His English is excellent. But the main thing to remember, Remus, is that you are not alone."

Remus dipped his head. "Thank you."

"Professor Dumbledore only told me because he knew of my connection with Marcus. I want you to know that not all staff members know, only those that Dumbledore feels can be trusted."

"There were rumours that you would be a werewolf."

She laughed. "Yes, well, I kept my presence pretty secret – I have to admit, I do love seeing the looks on student's faces when they discover I'm a hunter."

"Must be an exciting job."

"The best. I love it. And Marcus isn't the only werewolf I know. There are packs out there, Remus. Packs of good, kind people who simply stay out of the way. But the prejudice of the wizarding world..." She stopped, shaking her head. "Just know that you are never alone. I'll see you next lesson."

"Thank you," he repeated, before leaving the room. James waited in the corridor, telling him that Sirius and Peter had gone ahead to lunch. As they walked towards the Great Hall, Remus told James about what Professor Harpo had said.

"Yeah, Lily looked pretty chuffed when she came out. So, tutoring, huh?"

"It'll be good experience, if I ever do go into teaching."

"Do you think you'll write to this Marcus guy?"

"I don't see why not. It might be...good for me. Anyway, before I do that..." He came to a stop as they reached the doors to the Great Hall. "I want to tell Sirius and Peter, first. She was right, I'm not alone, and not just because there are other werewolves out there."

X X X

When classes finished, Remus suggested the four of them go for a walk by the lake. Although it wasn't hot outside, it wasn't cold, either. Instead, it was warm, as the last of summer clung on. They knew the warmth would soon disappear, to be replaced by howling winds, rain and snow. Winter was approaching, but it was taking its time. Autumn and summer seemed to be battling it out, making the air slightly muggy.

There was no one else near the lake. Every so often, they saw a streak above the Quidditch pitch, where the Ravenclaw team were practicing. James picked up a rock, skimming it across the lake as Remus sat down. Peter and Sirius sat either side of him and, growing bored, James turned away from the water and joined them, giving Remus a reassuring nod.

"I have something to tell you," Remus began, his eyes sliding from Sirius to Peter. "But I need you both to...to keep it a secret."

Peter looked confused, but both nodded. Remus focused on Sirius. He looked thoughtful, and after a few seconds, he spoke. "Go on, Remus. You can tell us anything."

"I'm a werewolf."

"A werewolf?" Peter spluttered.

"Yes, Peter, a werewolf. As in, Remus turns into a wolf during the full moon," James said, rolling his eyes before he locked his gaze on the smallest boy. Clearly, something about him bothered James. "And if you have a problem with that, you have a problem with all of us."

"Of course I don't," he squeaked. "I just...wanted to clarify." He turned to Remus. "I don't have a problem with it, Remus. Really. You're one of our best friends."

"And being a werewolf doesn't change that," Sirius muttered. When they looked at him, it was to see him smiling. "Come on, mate, we know you. We know you're not a monster. I mean, hell, look at you." He gestured to Remus, and the other three laughed. Suddenly, Sirius' head snapped to look at James. "You knew/"

James shrugged. "You didn't seem surprised."

"Yeah, well...did he tell you?" Sirius' gaze turned to Remus. "Did you tell him?"

"He worked it out," Remus muttered, frowning. "Wait, James is right...you didn't seem surprised, Sirius. Why?"

Sirius blushed. "I...aw come on, mate, you disappeared every full moon. And you always came back with...with marks. Plus, well, other things, sometimes. I kind of noticed."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I wanted to wait until you were comfortable," Sirius replied, almost weakly. "I didn't want to ambush you with it." He looked, again, at James. "You didn't ambush him, did you?"

Shaking his head, Remus sighed. "No, he didn't. So you two are really okay with it?"

"Yeah!" Peter chuckled. "Of course we are."

"What did Harpo want to see you about, anyway?" Sirius asked, and Remus found himself, for the second time, repeating what Harpo had said.

"Is it lonely?" Peter muttered, gazing at Remus with wide eyes. "I mean, being a werewolf and all that."

Remus' gaze dropped to the floor, as he thought over Peter's question and tried to find the words to answer him. "I suppose it is. I know the wolf is lonely. They're pack animals. It's difficult to explain but...well, when I turn, I'm usually in a room or..." He grinned. "Here, I go to the Shack. So I have a whole house to move around it. But it's too confined for the wolf, still too small. It'd rather be out under the moon, hunting and stuff." He shrugged. "There's nothing I can do about it though."

After a minute or so of silence, Sirius spoke. "You're right, there's nothing you can do, but maybe there's something we could do."

"No!" Remus barked, shaking his head. "Sirius, whatever you're thinking...I'm not me when I'm the wolf. If you were around, I wouldn't even recognise you. I could seriously hurt you. I would. The wolf would most likely rip you to shreds."

"Yeah, as humans," Sirius scoffed. "If we were in the Shack during the full moon with you like this," he gestured to them all, "then yeah, we'd most likely end up dead. Or..."

"There's no way I'm letting you let me purposefully bite you," he growled. "Sirius, this is not a good life. It's horrible and painful and...and scary."

"I didn't mean that," Sirius replied, his gaze soft as he looked at him. "I meant...well, there is another way."

"What is it, Sirius?" James asked, a grin on his face as he stared at the other boy.

Sirius chuckled. "Easy. We find a way of turning ourselves into animals."

"Like a temporary transfiguration?" Remus sighed. "That's almost impossible, Sirius. You've seen the photos of people who have tried spells to turn themselves into birds – it never works."

"I didn't mean temporary. Not that sort of transfiguration. I mean more like what McGonagall can do."

Remus gaped at him as his skin flushed red. James laughed.

"Sirius, you are a genius! That's a brilliant idea!"

"We turn ourselves into cats?" Peter muttered, frowning. "Wouldn't the wolf be more likely to hurt us if we were cats?"

"He means become animagi," Remus explained, shaking his head. "Sirius, I appreciate the idea, I really do, but for starters it's illegal at our age. Secondly, it's an incredibly difficult and lengthy process. It can take even the most advanced wizards decades to do it."

Sirius shrugged. "Then we'll try harder than they did. Or we'll do it in a couple of decades and spend every month for the rest of our lives running with you under the full moon."

"I think it's a great idea," James said. "Really. And I want to do it, Remus. I want to try. For you."

"Me too," Peter chirped.

"Really? You'd put yourselves through that, for me?"

They nodded, and Remus felt tears pricking at his eyes. He smiled, sighed and shrugged.

"You'd do it even if I said I didn't want you to, wouldn't you?"

"Yep!" Sirius nodded, a huge grin across his face. "There's no stopping us, now."

"All right. But...but no one can know, yeah? Like I said, it's illegal because you're underage and if anyone knew..."

"They'd question why," James finished. "Animagi usually have to register, right? But...well, we won't. Simple."

"If anyone finds out..." Remus muttered.

"Then we'll be in deep shit," Sirius laughed. "And my mother would probably kill me. But, hey, Azkaban can't be that bad, can it?"

X X X

The next full moon was the weekend before Halloween, for which Remus was grateful. As he prepared to go to the hospital wing, he threw the book about wizards and pirates onto James' bed.

"Cheers," James called, glancing up from a basic Transfiguration book. Remus had told them it was best to go from the ground up, to master the first and second year spells before they tried anything more advanced. They were looking at theory, and had taken to it much better than they took to their actual homework.

Remus said goodbye to the boys before grabbing his bag and walking through the castle towards the hospital wing. He always gave himself enough time, always strolled through the corridors, relishing the sense of delaying the inevitable.

Not that he ever could delay it.

In his pocket, he carried the address of Marcus Galois. Remus never really knew how long he would be in the hospital wing after the full moon. It all depended on how agitated the wolf got; sometimes, he hurt himself so bad he had to stay for a few days. Others he seemed to be better by the evening. This time, he had decided that, if he was stuck there for longer, he would write to the other werewolf.

Wolves were not meant to be alone. Humans weren't, either. Although he had three great friends by his side, he knew having another wolf to talk to, to share experiences with, would make as much difference as telling Sirius and Peter had.

Even Madam Pomfrey noticed a change in him as he entered the ward.

She smiled gently, dipping her head in greeting. With many of the students, she was overbearing and bossy, seeming strict in ensuring her patients got better. Although kind to them, it wasn't in the most obvious way. With Remus, she was gentler. He didn't know if it was because of what Sirius now referred to as his furry problem, or because he had spent so much time there. Whichever one it was, he was grateful for it.

"You seem in a good mood, Remus."

He smiled as he dropped his stuff on the bed she had indicated. "Professor Harpo gave me the address of another werewolf."

"It would be beneficial for you to have someone to talk to," she said, glancing out the window. "Especially someone who has been through similar experiences. Are you ready? It's almost nightfall."

He nodded, taking the small piece of parchment out of his pocket and slipping it into his bag, before putting a jacket on over his baggy t-shirt. "Ready," he said, before they began the same walk they did every month, down towards the tree at the edge of the forest.

**A/N: Thoughts, feedback, suggestions? Feel free, as always, to let me know what you think. Anything you liked/didn't like? And what did you think of the new DADA professor? For anyone who is interested, I have a blog and Twitter if you want to know more about me. Check them out; .com and gracebunting. Hope to see you there! **


	10. Chapter 10

A rat skirted along the edge of the wall. The larger mammal pounced, growling as it watched the rat disappear into a small hole. It turned, and began to pace around the room. Something had changed. The room smelt the same, smelt of him and smaller animals. But, although nothing was different, the walls didn't seem as close as they used to.

The wolf leapt up, scratching at the window.

He whined, dropping back down and circling a spot on the floor. Stopping, he tilted his head back and howled. The knowledge sat at the back of his mind. It was new, fresh.

He knew that somewhere out there, there were others.

Somewhere beyond the walls there was a pack waiting for him.

X X X

In the early dawn light, Remus walked back to the castle. He was in nothing but a robe, a robe he had hidden in the shack, away from the reach of the wolf. He walked quickly, surprised at how alert he felt, how little pain there was. He knew it meant the wolf had either been happy or too sad to grow agitated, to grow restless.

Something had changed, for both of them.

He didn't yet know what it would mean for the wolf, but he knew he felt lighter than he had in a long time.

As soon as he reached the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey bustled him into the bed, drawing the curtains and passing him a hot, steaming potion. The first time he had tasted it, after his first full moon in Hogwarts, he had almost thrown up. The drink was disgusting, but he had slowly grown used to it, and could now drink it without feeling the urge to gag.

Safe in the knowledge that he would fall asleep soon, Madam Pomfrey left him. Remus, from his bag under the bed, took out a piece of parchment and a quill, and began to write.

_Dear Mr Galois,_

_I hope you do not mind me writing to you. Professor Harpo gave me your address, and seemed under the impression that contact between us would help. I think she's right. Already, I feel better just knowing there are others out there, and not just those who, like the wolf who attacked me, are vicious and cruel._

_I know very little about other werewolves, but Professor Harpo mentioned packs. I didn't even know there were packs out there! For me, it's exciting, and_

He stopped, frowning at the parchment. Was he coming across as too eager? Would Marcus Galois rip it up, laugh at him?

To his surprise, his hand was shaking.

He continued to write.

_I would love to know more. I have some great friends here, and my parents have been very supportive since_

_I was five when I was turned. Like I said, my parents have been supportive, but if there are packs out there, if there are other wolves who I could someday meet, I would love to know more._

_Thank you,  
><em>

_Remus J. Lupin_

Feeling the potion begin to take effect, he rolled up the parchment and slid it into his bag, promising himself he would send it as soon as he was out of the hospital wing.

X X X

The owl circled the lake a few times before flying over the forest, soon disappearing from sight. James stepped back from the window, running a hand through his hair as he turned to face the other three, standing in the doorway.

"The owls don't like you, do they?"

Remus shook his head. "They're okay at breakfast, because they're used to me there, I think. But yeah, coming in here is a...problem."

"They're stupid animals, anyway," Sirius muttered, eyeing them. One turned its head, focusing its gaze on him. "All right, all right. You're not stupid. You're highly intelligent." The owl seemed to nod, before tucking its head under its wing. "Come on, let's go, I'm starving."

The others nodded in agreement before they walked down the steps of the Owlery, heading for the Great Hall.

"I've been thinking," James began.

"Don't do too much of that, mate, you'll hurt your head," Sirius quickly said, grinning at James.

"Shut up. Anyway, what I was thinking was that we need a name."

"A name?" Peter asked. "But we have names."

"Yeah, but I mean like a group name. Something we can refer to ourselves as with no one else knowing."

"That's not actually a bad idea," Sirius said, nodding slowly. "A name. Like a band! Yeah! How about The Amazing Sirius & The Three Not-So-Amazing Friends?"

James playfully slapped him across his arm, as Remus rolled his eyes. "Yeah," Remus scoffed, "like you need your ego getting any bigger."

"I actually already had a name." James glanced up and down the corridor, his eyes bright as he took a deep breath. "From that book Remus leant me."

"He didn't put it down the whole time you were away," Sirius sighed. "I was getting worried about him."

"What do you three think about..." He paused, his grin widening. "The Marauders?"

Remus burst out laughing, the sound bouncing off the walls around them. All three stared at him, James looking slightly hurt. Once the sound had died away, Remus wiped the tears from his eyes.

"James," he panted, "that's perfect."

X X X

The Marauders.

It had a ring to it, a strange sense of legacy attached to the words. It felt, to the boys, like a name that would enter the realms of legend, a name that could be whispered in the halls in years to come. James' image was of future pranksters, saying the words with a sense of awe. For Sirius, it sparked off the idea of greatness, of being remembered for something amazing. Peter knew that just being part of the group would give him the chance to prove himself.

Under the name Marauders, Remus could feel fully accepted.

"We need a prank," James declared, as they sat in their usual spot in the Common Room that evening. "Something great. Our first prank as the Marauders."

Sirius eagerly nodded in agreement, grinning as he flicked through his transfiguration book. "What about turning Snivellus into a snake?"

"Nah, something simpler," James muttered, reaching across and taking the book from Sirius. He opened it up, scanning the page. "Something good but simple. Something we can do more than once."

"Like a signature prank?" Remus mused, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. "Well, it is Halloween this week..."

James put the book down, grabbing a nearby Charms one instead. "Homework..."

"At a time like this?" Sirius gasped.

"Nah, I meant for us," James chuckled, grinning. "Twenty-four hours from now, we meet up and brainstorm ideas. We have to go away and not speak to each other and come back and have something really good for the others."

"Not speak to each other?" Peter said, sighing. "That doesn't seem fair."

"But it's not a bad idea," Remus replied. "I mean, it guarantees that we're going to at least have different ideas."

"Exactly." James nodded before standing, lifting his arms above his head. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go for a run. See you guys later." With a smile he turned and darted out of the Common Room. Sirius shrugged.

"Well...I'm...err..."

"I'm going to the library," Remus announced, gathering his stuff together. "I suggest you do whatever helps you think."

"Then I'm going to go to the pitch," Sirius muttered. "Might as well get some flying practice in. I'll walk down with you, Remus."

"Bye," Peter muttered, almost sadly as he stared at the other boys.

"Don't worry, Pete," Remus chuckled. "You'll think of something."

With that, Remus and Sirius left, walking through the corridors of the castle as they headed towards the library.

"So you're really okay with the animagus idea?" Sirius asked, lowering his voice as the Bloody Baron, the Slytherin ghost, floated past.

"Sure. If you guys want to go through it, then...well, I know how stubborn you can be, Sirius." He grinned. "There's really no stopping you, is there? Anyway, I meant to tell you guys, I think I found a spell that can show you your animal form."

Sirius gaped at him as they both stopped walking, having arrived at the doors of the library. "Really?"

"Yeah. It's complicated though – harder than producing a patronus. Even that's NEWT level. Most wizards don't bother, they just wait until they change the first time to see what they will be."

"So if we did master this spell, we should have no problem with the rest of the process?"

Remus nodded. "I suppose. But I'll talk to you about it tomorrow." He flashed Sirius a wide smile before turning and moving towards the door. "Have fun on the pitch."

"Yeah, cheers, mate," Sirius replied, thinking over what Remus had said and the idea of the spell, grinning as he made his way outside. He felt sure that, with the four of them working together, they'd be able to do the spell.

X X X

A large raven circled above the students in the Great Hall at breakfast the following morning. Many of the students gaped at it, as it eyed them all before swooping down and landing on the Gryffindor table, in front of Remus. He hadn't seen Sirius and James since the night before. Waking up that morning, he had glanced towards their beds to see both boys had drawn the curtains.

Peter sat opposite him, quiet and sullen, though he stared at the raven as Remus took the parchment tied to its leg, addressed to him.

He ripped it open and scanned the letter, grinning as he saw the name at the bottom. Still smiling, he munched on a piece of toast as he began to read it fully.

_Dear Mr. Lupin,_

_Of course it is no problem to write to me. In fact, I was excited when Gabrielle (that's Professor Harpo to you)informed me that she would be teaching another werewolf this year, and it was my idea for her to give you my address. I understand how difficult it is as a lone wolf. I was barely fifteen when I was turned, and did not find my pack until I was in my early twenties. _

_There are certain things only wolves can tell you._

_For starters, get a raven. Trained owls do not like us, as you may know. The owl you sent stayed just long enough for me to take the letter off, Ravens, on the other hand, are more than happy to remain in our company. The ones here even join us on the full moon. _

_I want you to know that if you ever find yourself in France, the pack will welcome you, during the full moon or otherwise. _

_Take care, and I look forward to hearing from you soon,_

_Marcus._

Grinning at the letter, he folded it carefully before slipping it into his pockets. Peter opened his mouth to say something, but then seemed to remember the arrangement, as he quickly shut it.

"You two are awfully quiet," William, sitting a few seats down, drawled. "Missing your friends?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "It's just nice to sit and think, sometimes, that's all."

"Not that you would know anything about thinking," Peter muttered, looking surprised at himself as he stared at Remus. His look was quickly replaced by a grin as both Remus and Michael laughed.

"Aw, come on," Michael said, spotting the look on his friend's face. "That was kind of funny."

"I'd be one of the top in our year, actually," William snapped, "if it wasn't for Lupin and Evans."

"And James, and Sirius, and most of Ravenclaw, and even Snape," Peter replied with a sigh. Another look of shock crossed his features.

"I think James and Sirius are rubbing off on you," Remus laughed, shaking his head as William huffed and stood, quickly leaving the hall.

"You know what," Michael sighed, "he's been a pain in the arse since the Quidditch trials." He shook his head. "Think he was annoyed that James got on and he didn't."

Remus shrugged. "It's not James' fault. Or ours. And he can always try out again next year."

"I keep telling him that." Michael frowned, glancing down at the full English breakfast in front of him. "But his dad got onto the team in his second year. His dad is really good. I think he was expecting Will to do the same." Michael pushed his plate away, standing up as he grabbed his bag. "Just...ask James and Sirius to lay off a bit, will you? Please?"

"I'll ask them, but I can't promise anything."

"Thanks, Remus." With that, Michael left the hall, most likely to look for his friend.

Remus glanced at Peter. "The letter was from Marcus, by the way," he said, lowering his voice.

"Oh, what did he say?"

"To get a raven," Remus chuckled. "Apparently they make better...pets for...people like me."

"Do you think you'd be allowed one?"

Remus shrugged, before glancing up at the teacher's table. "I don't know. Only one way to find out, though. I'll see you later."

Peter nodded, as Remus stood and made his way from the hall, glancing at his watch. There were still twenty minutes until the first class, plenty of time for him to ask about the raven. Quickly, he moved through the halls, glad that, at least, the wolf gave him better instincts for finding his way around the place.

Eventually he stopped outside the office he was looking for. With a smile, as he remembered the password, he said, "Parma violets," watching as the gargoyle moved and revealed a staircase winding upwards.

Before stepping onto the staircase, he glanced up and down the corridor. Seeing no one there, he relaxed and moved forward. Soon, he was standing at the door of Professor Dumbledore's office. He knocked, and was greeted by the kind voice calling, "Come in."

The phoenix in the corner glanced at Remus as he stepped inside, before tucking his head under his wing. Professor Dumbledore was at his desk, papers strewn over it. He smiled as Remus stepped inside.

"Remus, what can I do for you?"

"I was wondering, sir..." He paused, trying to think of the best way to explain it. "Well, I...I've started writing to another werewolf, sir."

"Excellent, excellent," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling. "There is nothing in life more valuable than the experience of our own peers. I assume the person you are in correspondence with is older?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then they can impart knowledge and wisdom that, alas, I nor any other in this school is privy to. I assume you have discovered something you wish to ask me about?"

Remus nodded. "Owls don't like werewolves, sir. But I was told that ravens can do the same job, but are better companions for...for someone like me."

The headmaster's smile grew. "You are wondering if you would be allowed to have a raven at Hogwarts, then?"

"Yes, sir."

"I see no problem with that." He nodded, slowly. "If any of your fellow students question it – I can imagine Mr Black being eager to have something similar – perhaps you could tell them it is a gift from an uncle, or a godparent."

Remus nodded. "That sounds like a good idea, sir."

"Very well. You should head to class, Mr Lupin."

"Yes, sir. Thank you." Remus turned, ready to leave, but stopped at the door. "Err, sir, if you don't mind me asking...why weren't you at breakfast?"

Dumbledore smiled. "I am afraid, Remus, that I wasn't feeling up to eating a full breakfast this morning. The elves will bring me something small soon."

"Oh, okay."

"Good luck with finding your raven."

"Thank you, sir." With a quick smile, Remus turned and left the room, his smile changing into a grin as he began to race down the stairs and head for class.

**A/N: The birth of the Marauders, and Remus is getting a raven! What do you think? As always, love to hear your feedback. And please check me out on Twitter and on my blog - gracebunting and .com. Thanks!**


	11. Chapter 11

Rumours ran around the castle walls like rats, being passed from one student to another, heads bent low as they whispered, growing quiet whenever they saw one of the four boys they were talking about.

"Do you think they're well?"

"I saw them, in the library. They must be planning something."

"Halloween. It has to be for Halloween."

It had been unusually quiet the last few days, even in the Gryffindor Common Room where James and Sirius usually practiced their next prank ideas. The whisperings had started from the Gryffindors, as they told friends from other houses that the four boys hadn't even been seen in the Common Room. The only time their fellow students saw them now, it seemed, was in classes or at Quidditch practice.

The first match was on Halloween itself, and both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor were busy practicing. When they weren't in the library or on the pitch, the teams were racing around the castle, jogging through the grounds, James and Sirius included.

"Anything?"

Thursday evening, and James dropped down into a chair at the table Remus and Peter were sitting at. Remus shook his head, looking up from the book in his hands.

"Where's Sirius?" Peter asked, frowning as he gazed at James in his Quidditch robes, his hair drenched with sweat.

"Shower," James panted. "I came straight here."

"There's nothing about how to do it in any of the standard books," Remus said, closing the book and pushing it into the middle of the table. "James, it could take a long time to find anything."

"That's fine," James replied, glancing at him. "As long as you don't mind waiting. We'll stick with it, and once this first match is over, training will happen...less. Me and Sirius will be able to look as well."

"How's your History homework coming?" Remus asked, crossing his arms as he lent forward. "Only two more weeks to get the essay in."

James waved a hand in the air. "Plenty of time."

Remus rolled his eyes, before gesturing to the parchment in front of Peter. "Peter's already started."

Peter blushed. "With a bit of help from Remus."

"A bit," Remus agreed. "How did training go?"

"He's pushing us, hard. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the others end up with injuries before the actual match."

Remus reached into his bag and pulled out a small jar, full of a thick, light blue cream. He placed it on the table. "Apparently, this stuff is brilliant. The Ravenclaws are using it."

"Where did you get it?" James asked, frowning as he reached forward and picked up the jar. A blush coloured Remus' cheeks.

"When I was in the Hospital Wing, I heard Madam Pomfrey talking to a couple of the Ravenclaw players. They were asking for it because practice was making their muscles ache. When she came to check on me before I left, I asked her about it, told her I was aching from the change." He grinned. "She handed it right over."

James laughed, quieting as he caught sight of the librarian, passing them as she restocked the shelves. "Remus, you are brilliant! I can't believe you lied to a teacher!" He clapped him on the back. "Thanks, mate, I owe you one."

"You just have to rub a small bit where it's aching. Apparently, we cover it in fourth year Potions. Which will be why the Ravenclaws knew."

"Wonder why the older team members haven't mentioned it?" James mused, turning the pot over as he looked at the cream.

"It has other uses. Maybe they just didn't think about using it for that."

James nodded, before dropping it into his bag. "So, where do you think we should look next?" he asked, picking up one of the books and flicking through it. Remus shrugged.

"It's complicated magic. We've only read the standard texts up until second year, but there might be something in the more advanced books. We'll need to start looking at the OWL books."

He grinned as James shuddered. "Brilliant." He sighed, before glancing around. "Well, it's getting late. We should head back. Do you think you could write a list of possible books? We can start looking through them after Halloween."

"Sure."

Peter started to gather his stuff. With his roll of parchment halfway into his bag, he stopped. "What if...what if we can't all do it?" he muttered, keeping his gaze away from the other two. "If one of us just can't..."

"Don't worry, mate," James said, grinning at him. "You can do it. Now let's get back – I'm shattered."

X X X

The day dawned cloudy. Few people were up in the Common Room when the Gryffindor team came downstairs, and even less were in the Great Hall. Even the reserves had been woken, and they walked slowly behind the main team as they made their way through the castle. James and Sirius both grinned when they saw Remus, sitting at the table and reading a book, a piece of toast in his free hand.

To their surprise, the book was about Quidditch.

"Go sit with your friend," Gerard said. "And try to relax, Potter."

James nodded, darting down the table and falling down in front of Remus. Sirius sat beside him.

"Didn't notice you were up," James chuckled, grabbing a slice of toast and the butter. "Your curtains were closed."

Remus shrugged, not wanting to tell them the nightmares had meant he had barely slept, leaving his bed sheets twisted. He had been hungry when he had woken, and hadn't wanted to wake the others.

"Here." He passed the book to James. A few pages had been folded over. "You were too busy training last night for me to give you this."

"Bit late to be reading up on tips, isn't it?" Sirius muttered, glancing over James' shoulder.

"Amelia Nova gave it to me."

"The Ravenclaw?" Sirius asked, head snapping up. "Brown hair?"

Remus nodded. "She said she doesn't know if it'll be much help, but the pages are the ones the Ravenclaws use the most. And you have to hang out with her tomorrow by the lake, James."

James frowned. "Why?"

"I think she likes you." Remus sounded like the thought was confusing, beyond his reach of comprehension. When he saw the look on James' face, he laughed. "Hey, she's given you that, hasn't she?"

James glanced through the pages. "Okay...actually, yeah, this isn't too bad. Doesn't give too much away but these must be the moves they've been practicing. Remus, you're brilliant."

"Don't thank me," Remus sighed. "She just came over to me in the library, said she'd seen me hanging around with you and asked if I could give you that, in exchange for the...the..."

"Date?" Sirius cooed, before he burst out laughing as well. "Oh, Merlin, Potter has a date!"

"It's not a date!" James snapped. "She just...I don't know, maybe she wants me to help with homework or something."

This time, both of them laughed. "She would have just asked Remus, mate."

They carried on with breakfast, James and Sirius skimming over a couple of the pages that had been marked out. The hall began to fill, people chattering excitedly about the first Quidditch match of the season.

"There's Amelia," Remus said, gesturing towards one of girls at the Ravenclaw table. James half turned, looking at the table. Amelia's long, sleek hair was tied back with a blue band, standing out against the black colour. She was facing them and, as James' eyes caught hers, she smiled and glanced quickly away. James turned back to the others.

"Oh, yeah, she's one of the really clever ones, isn't she?"

"Who is?" The voice came from James' right, as Alice took a seat beside him. Lily sat on the other side, not looking pleased as she started to scoop breakfast onto her plate. The Gryffindor table had filled up quickly with people eager to get good seats for the match, and the spaces next to James and Remus were the only seats left.

"Amelia," Sirius said. "James is going on a date with her." His voice took on a sing-song tone, and James scowled.

"It's not a date!" he insisted.

Lily glanced up, looking surprised. "Well, she can't be that clever then, can she?"

"Jealous, Evans?" James snapped, before his scowl turned into a grin. "Anyway, I'm a rising Quidditch star. Why wouldn't she want to go on a date with me?"

"I thought it wasn't a date?" Remus said, unable to resist grinning as James' mouth opened, then closed. He stuttered something before he was saved. Gerard Floss stood and glanced down towards them.

"Potter, Black, let's go."

Relief washed over James' face and, without saying anything else, he stood, grabbing the book, and made his way towards the rest of the team. Laughing, Sirius followed.

"I don't know why you hang out with those two," Lily muttered, shaking her head. "I really don't."

"They're good friends," Remus replied, grabbing another slice of toast and swiping a lump of butter across it. "And they are good guys, Lily, you just don't see it."

"I would say you have a point," Alice cut in. "But sometimes...I don't know, they just seem to enjoy their little pranks too much, don't they?"

"And they are downright cruel to Severus, for no reason."

"Really?" Remus scoffed. "You mean his whole 'better than you' attitude isn't reason enough?"

"If anyone has that kind of attitude, it's Black and Potter," Lily snapped. "Severus is lovely, and I would have been terrified about coming here if it hadn't been for him."

Alice remained quiet, her head bowed as she stared down at her breakfast. Remus shrugged, glad when he saw Peter dart into the hall and jog to the table. He sat opposite Remus, panting.

"Why didn't anyone wake me?" he wheezed, reaching forward for some bacon and sausages. "If I had overslept..."

"I was up early," Remus replied, "and James and Sirius were down not long after. Sorry, Peter, but you do get grumpy when you're woken too early."

Peter frowned, before glancing at Lily and Alice. "Looking forward to the match?"

Lily shrugged, as a grin lit up Alice's face. "I can't wait! Nothing like a good game of Quidditch."

"Personally, I'm just looking forward to the feast," Lily said. "I can't get into Quidditch."

Remus nodded his agreement, before the talk turned to homework as they swapped mental notes.

X X X

The excitement was thick in the air as the students made their way down towards the pitch. They formed a thick crowd, knocking into each other as they went. Peter and Lily both disappeared, leaving Remus and Alice together. Professor McGonagall, wearing robes in the Gryffindor colours, stood at the entrance to the pitch, directing students to seats. A few of the older students were helping her as well.

Peter appeared just before they reached McGonagall, panting and sweating, parts of his robes torn.

"You okay?" Remus asked, as McGonagall gestured for them to head towards the Gryffindor stands.

"Fine," Peter muttered. "A fight started. Gryffindor and Slytherin. Hagrid broke it up."

Remus shook his head. "You seen Lily?"

"Don't worry about her," Alice chirped up. "She'll find us. Come on!" She grabbed Remus hand and pulled him up the stairs, Peter following behind. They managed to find a couple of decent seats, high up enough to see everything that was going on, but not too far back.

Alice squeezed close to Remus, as a few more Gryffindors sat down on her other side. William and Michael were a few rows ahead of them. Remus was glancing at the other stands, spotting the Slytherin students with Ravenclaw banners opposite them. There were five main stands, one for each house and the last for the teachers and visitors. There were other stands, too, mostly taken up by students sitting with friends from other houses, or other visitors who didn't fit in the teacher's stand. Most of the time, there were people from Hogsmeade, or parents and siblings of some of those playing.

Occasionally, though it was more often than not near the end of the year, they would be joined by scouts, too.

Someone tapped Remus' shoulder. He turned, to see a group of third years sitting just behind them.

"Remus Lupin, right?" one asked, a boy in the middle with light brown hair. Remus nodded. "Heard you were pretty smart, right? One of the smartest in your year?"

He felt his cheeks flush red. "I guess. Lily Evans usually gets better marks than me, though."

"She's a bright witch. Look, we've got a little group set up. Thinking of getting a bit of a competition going with the other houses, something for those of us who aren't the most sporty." The boy gestured to the pitch, where the teams were now filing out of the changing rooms. "Think you'd be interested? Your friends are welcome to try it out, too." He gestured to Alice and Peter, his gaze lingering on Alice slightly longer.

"Sure. What do you think?" He turned back to the other two. Peter frowned.

"I'd be useless."

"I'm game," Alice said. "I'll ask Lily, too."

"Great. I'll tell you when the next meeting is. I'm Frank Longbottom, by the way." He held his hand out to Remus, who shook it and smiled.

"This is Peter, and Alice."

"Nice to meet you." He shook their hands, too, as the captains on the pitch shook and the whistle was blown. "Enjoy the game."

"You too." Remus, along with the other two, turned to watch as the players lifted off into the air.

X X X

The Gryffindors were in high spirits as they made their way to the Great Hall that evening. As they crossed paths with the Ravenclaws, hands were shook and houses congratulated on a good game. It was only the Slytherins who seemed dejected about the game. It had been close, and both teams had proven already that they were going to be hard to beat that year.

Remus knew the book had done little to actually help James, but it had served to calm his nerves and give him something to concentrate on before the game, to keep his mind off his own performance until he was actually on the pitch. He hadn't stopped smiling since the game ended, despite the fact that he, personally, hadn't scored.

Instead, he had helped set up the other chasers, helped them get the goals they needed.

Lily hadn't turned up for the match, and Alice hadn't seemed bothered by it. Remus spotted the pair walking down to the hall, and Alice gave him a quick wave before they entered for the Halloween feast.

Bats flew above their heads, and a couple of fake skeletons had been enchanted to dance around the hall. Even the Slytherins couldn't keep the smiles from their faces as they sat down and the ghosts began to fly around, appearing through tables and walls.

The food appeared in front of them, all foods typical of harvest. The students happily dug in, enjoying the various root vegetables on offer. Between mouthfuls, they talked of the game. Names of players were thrown around the hall, and between the main course and desert, a couple of Hufflepuff first years approached the Gryffindor table.

The two boys headed straight for James.

"You were g-g-great," one stammered, glancing nervously at his friend. "We just w-w-wanted to t-t-tell you that."

"Err, thanks," James replied, looking mildly embarrassed.

"We just h-h-hope we're half as g-g-good as you, next year." The two darted off, and further down the table, Lily rolled her eyes, making a deliberate effort to turn away.

"He's a celebrity already," Sirius commented, shaking his head as the deserts appeared in front of them. Ice cream, gateaux, pies and other treats were spread across the table, enough to rival the Christmas feast. Everyone reached forward, eagerly grabbing their favourite sweet.

The hall fell silent, the enjoyment of the food taking over.

Remus could feel himself growing sleepily, and he suspected most everyone else was feeling the same. It wasn't to last.

The doors to the hall burst open, and Remus jerked around to see a centaur ride in, ignoring the students and charging straight for the teacher's table. For a split second, he thought the centaur was going to run Dumbledore down. The headmaster stood, staring at the half-horse, half-man as he came to a stop directly in front of him.

The centaur had panic written all over his face. He leant towards Dumbledore, saying something. Everyone stared, watching as fear flashed across the face of the headmaster.

"Everyone," he boomed. "Back to your common rooms."

No one moved.

"Now!"

Suddenly, they were scrambling up, every student making a mad dash for the doors with no idea why they were running.


	12. Chapter 12

"Where are you going?" Remus hissed, as James and Sirius broke away from the main group making a dash to the common room. James held his finger to his lips. Him and Sirius had darted down an empty corridor, and as people pushed past Remus, James gestured for him to carry on.

Remus rolled his eyes, grabbed Peter's hand, and yanked him onwards.

James turned, following Sirius down the corridor until they reached the corner. Turning it, they headed for the first door. The classroom hadn't been used in years. Every desk inside was covered in a layer of dust, thick and white, and outdated books sat on the sides, untouched.

James shut the door behind them, and Sirius darted to the cupboard at the back of the room.

"I told you it was a good idea to stash it here," Sirius said, as James followed him. Once both were inside, they shut the door, and Sirius crouched down, tapping at the wall, a precise, thought out rhythm.

It had been in one of the books they'd been looking through for hints of how to become Animagi. The book itself was from the 1800s, and had barely been touched since the First World War. It wasn't surprising; whoever had written it had written most in Latin, and though the students at Hogwarts did have, for some, a basic grasp of the language, much of the book's text was still too difficult for a modern student.

But, in the corner of one page, Sirius had seen the instructions for the tunnel.

He had thanked Merlin for whoever had hidden the notes there. The tunnel led from the disused classroom down to the chamber beside the Great Hall.

The floor dropped from beneath them, and both boys tumbled down. Not far; they landed on their feet, bending their knees slightly as the trap door swung back into place. James bent down, swooping up his most precious item, and threw it over the pair of them.

They moved forward quickly, past the stone engraved with various carvings from years gone by. They rounded corner after corner, dropping down almost constantly, until they came to a dead end.

Or, at least, it seemed like a dead end.

Sirius tapped across the bricks and like a door, they opened.

The door led them to the back of a fireplace, currently unlit. It was more than handy; from the way they entered, those gathered in the room wouldn't' see the door in the wall. Sirius and James inched forward slowly, until they could see the centaur in the middle of the room.

Around him stood various teaches. Slughorn was sweating; McGonagall was sitting in a chair, one hand at her chest. Dumbledore was focused on the centaur, but James thought those bright blue eyes of his stared right at him for just a split second.

"The creatures of the forest are fighting as hard as they can to defend the school," the centaur said. "But we are no match for his magic."

"Who is it, Albus?"

She sounded frightened, her voice shaking as she stared at Dumbledore. Slughorn glanced at her, a look of pity, the kind of look that reflected how naive he thought she was. James tugged on Sirius' arm, and the two shifted forward.

"We need to get out there," Dumbledore said, glancing at the door that led to the Great Hall. He lifted his wand. "There are a few in Hogsmeade who are willing to help us." He waved his wand, and suddenly a silver phoenix came flying out of the end. "Hogsmeade, now. Get them." The phoenix turned and flew through the wall, and Dumbledore turned, opening the door. He gestured for the others to go before him, and they slid out, one by one, McGonagall shaking. Through the open doorway, James and Sirius could see the other teaches, faces pale, a couple of the women with tears rolling down their faces.

The headmaster barked out orders, commanding some of the teachers to remain in the castle, to patrol the halls and ensure not only that all the students were in their beds, but that no one except other teachers left or entered.

Only a few remained in the Great Hall once he had sent most off to patrol. McGonagall, Slughorn, Harpo and Flitwick stood around, looking nervously at the headmaster.

He looked at McGonagall, as Sirius and James moved closer, eager to hear every word.

"You asked me who was out there, Minerva. It is the man I told you about."

"But...he wouldn't dare attack Hogwarts..."

"He is arrogant," Dumbledore said. "But I doubt he is unleashing a full attack." He glanced at the centaur, who gave him a curt nod. "My guess is he wishes to scare us, and this is his idea of a warning. I also believe he wishes to speak to me."

"Albus!" she gasped. "You can't!"

"I asked you to stay here because you need to come with me. We must meet him, before he destroys the creatures living in the forest." His eyes swept the Great Hall. "It would be extremely dangerous, for anyone not as skilled as you four, to follow."

His bright blue eyes seemed to catch James', and Sirius hand squeezed James' shoulder, both thinking the same thing.

_He can see us_.

Dumbledore led the others out. The door of the hall swung shut behind them. James trembled, and the hairs on Sirius' arms were on end.

"What do you think?" Sirius whispered.

"Something bad is happening," James replied, wondering exactly how much the other teachers knew. "And it's happening in the forest. I don't really feel like sticking around here, do you?"

"But Dumbledore..."

"Knows about the cloak," James muttered, before Sirius could finish. "But I don't think he's interested in outing us. Maybe he doesn't even know it's us, maybe he just knows there's someone under here."

"How many cloaks do you think there are, James?" Sirius snapped. "It's not like every student in this school has one!"

"Fine! Go back to the Common Room. But I'm going to the forest. I need to know what's going on."

"Why?"

"Because he was scared! Didn't you hear it? Whoever is out here has the greatest wizard in the world scared, and that means we should be scared, too, but I don't want to be scared of something I have no idea about."

"That doesn't make any sense, James."

"Everything is less scary when you know what it is. Are you coming with me or not?"

"Fine," Sirius grumbled. "I'll come. But only because you'll get yourself killed if you go out there on your own."

James grinned. "Great. Come on."

Sirius still looked apprehensive, but stayed close to his friend as they went through the Entrance Hall and out into the grounds. They could see the shapes of the teachers heading into the forest, past the willow that seemed to hate anyone who came near it. The two boys quickened their pace, rushing forward until they weren't too far behind the group.

The forest was silent.

It didn't feel right, to either of them. Neither James nor Sirius had been in the forest, but they had both assumed it would have the sounds of animals around them. They couldn't hear owls from the school hunting, or animals rummaging in the undergrowth. The centaur, they saw, walked slowly, just ahead of the teachers, turning his head every so often.

They followed as the group ahead turned off the path, and both boys were careful not to step on twigs or branches that had fallen. Even the slightest sound in the place would draw attention.

When James spotted that they all had their wands out, he nudged Sirius, and both of them withdrew their own, mentally running through the selection of spells they had learnt over the last two years.

He had no idea if any of them would help if they got caught in a difficult situation, but it helped calm his nerves. Nothing, however, could have stopped the way he and Sirius grabbed onto each other when a piercing scream broke through the forest, coming from some way ahead of them.

The teachers broke into a run and the two boys copied them, not caring now about the crunching leaves or breaking twigs under their feet. The teachers and centaur were making enough noise to cover that, anyway.

Trees scratched at them, and James found himself clutching tightly to the invisibility cloak, stopping it from getting ripped off them.

A bright flash caught them off guard. It was like a firework had been set off, and the flash flew up into the air, sparks exploding. They glanced up, to see a skull forming, a snake crawling from its mouth.

"What's that?" James whispered, trying not to trip over Sirius' feet.

"I've seen it, somewhere," Sirius muttered. "I...I don't know where..."

They stumbled into a clearing, skidding to a stop so fast James had to grab onto Sirius to stop him tumbling out from under the cloak.

The boys grabbed onto each other, trying to stop the bile rising in their throats from escaping. James felt his eyes water at the stench filling the air, coming from the centaur lying motionless in the grass ahead of them. On the other side of the dead creature stood six people; it was hard to tell the gender of any of them. They wore black robes, hoods up with silver masks on their faces. The one in the middle stood ahead of them, his mask off. He stared straight at Dumbledore, twirling his wand in his hand.

On his own, in daylight, in the middle of the street the man wouldn't have been terrifying. His face was pale, his hair a dark colour much like James'. He looked so normal; it was hard to believe it had been him to kill the centaur.

But James knew it was, and somehow he knew the man ahead of them was linked to the attacks on Muggles the year before.

Despite the overwhelming normality of the man, there was something in him that indicated he was all too capable of killing innocents.

"Albus," he drawled, a grin stretching over his face. James placed him somewhere in his thirties, maybe older. "Nice of you to come meet me. And you brought Minerva, too."

McGonagall looked on the verge of tears. There was something in her that made James feel he shouldn't be witnessing the scene. The centaur – the live one – couldn't tear his eyes from his companion.

"Leave this place, Tom." Dumbledore's voice was strangely calm, but there was a bright fire burning in his eyes, and power seemed to leak from him. "You've made your point."

"I don't think I have." He glanced over his shoulder at the people behind him. "This, Albus, is only a small portion of my followers, the people who are fed up of being treated as second class when we are clearly better, smarter, stronger than those that rule the world."

"You will never be better. Not as long as you harbour that hatred in your heart."

"This isn't hatred, Albus. This is power." He barked out a curse, raising his wand as he did so. Dumbledore's arm moved in one fluid motion, and the curse bounced off the spark of red that came from it, shooting harmlessly off into the trees.

The two began to duel, and James yanked Sirius behind a nearby tree, as those in black robes joined in, their own spells aimed at the teachers. The centaur gathered up the other one, slung him over his back and rode off into the forest.

Above them, the skull gleamed.

The two boys were shaking, holding tightly onto each other as red and green filled the clearing. They heard some of the curses, ones way beyond their understanding.

One stuck out in James' mind, and would remain there forever. A deep booming voice – not Slughorn or McGonagall or Harpo or Flitwick – shouted out a spell both James and Sirius had heard only whispered in low tones, a curse so evil most dared not speak of it.

McGonagall's scrams filled the air, tearing through the forest.

The two boys threw themselves down to the ground, a red streak passing just over their heads. They heard a fierce determination in the voices of the other teachers as they cast and cast and cast. When they dared glimpse at the battle, they would see Dumbledore, standing in the middle and duelling the other man, almost oblivious to those around them. His face was still, impassionate, his wand moving to block the spells.

And then, as suddenly as it had all happened, it was over. The forest fell quiet, the men in black robes disappeared, and Harpo dropped down beside McGonagall, checking her over. James and Sirius inched around the tree, watching.

"Get her back to the castle," Dumbledore commanded, staring into the forest. "Take her to the hospital wing. Now."

It was Flitwick who cast the charm to levitate her, Slughorn who put his hands on her shoulders to direct her. Harpo glanced over her shoulder at Dumbledore before following the other two.

Once they were out of sight, Dumbledore spoke.

"Take off that cloak."

James did as he was told, sliding off the cloak and revealing him and Sirius. Dumbledore turned to them, his eyes blazing.

"To my office, now," he snapped, and James trembled under his stare. Both of them nodded, following the headmaster back to the castle.


	13. Chapter 13

Dumbledore had left them almost as soon as they had reached the office. He had told them in a voice that offered no room for argument "Stay here," and then was gone, leaving the two boys under the eye of his phoenix.

Sirius was shaking, his arms wrapped around himself and his head bowed, chin on his chest. There were few things that would haunt Sirius throughout his life, but he had no idea then how often that evening would return to him, years later, when he had no company but himself and the creatures that stalked past his cell and sucked out the happy memories he had to cling to.

James was more composed. He sat with his palms flat on his knees, staring at the large window behind the headmaster's desk, eyes fixed on the forest that stretched out below them.

"Who was he?" Sirius whispered, finally lifting his head and turning to James.

James couldn't answer him, though many thoughts came to his head. He almost wanted to correct Sirius, to replace the who with what. Because although he looked it, he thought the man they had seen wasn't quite human.

He was more human than he would become, but James wasn't to know that, not then.

The door behind them opened and both boys jumped. They settled down when Dumbledore appeared in view, and moved behind his desk. He leaned on it, staring at both of them from behind his half-moon spectacles. The joy and humour usually shining out of his blue eyes was gone, replaced by a look much darker.

James could feel himself shrinking under it.

"Why did you follow us?"

James opened his mouth, clamped it shut, and tried to think of something that didn't sound totally stupid. Sirius's gaze fell, and suddenly the floor was very interesting.

Dumbledore sighed, and James was surprised to see not anger in his face, but pity.

"You are too young for this," he said, before his gaze slowly slipped to Sirius. "But there are worse things to come, and some of your peers have already seen them. Some will see them sooner than others. I had hoped that you would all be able to remain…children, for a while longer."

"Is…is she all right?" Sirius asked, finally drawing his head up. His eyes were wide, and for the first time ever, James saw his friend close to tears. "Is McGonagall going to be okay?"

The headmaster's eyes fell on him, studying him carefully. "She will be fine, Mr Black. Minerva McGonagall – and I never want you to forget this – is one of the strongest witches you could ever meet. She may not, however, be taking classes for a few days."

"Sir, we're sorry," James said. "We just thought…"

"Did you think?" he asked, cutting him off. "Tell me honestly, Mr Potter. Did you think?"

"No," he replied. "No, we didn't."

To his surprise, a smile appeared on Dumbledore's face. "Ah, the folly of youth. It usually leads you to more innocent scenes than that, however." Slowly, he sank into his chair. "To be young and not have to think. Merlin knows there were times when I was your age, and older, when I did not think before rushing into a situation. You should not have followed us, but you know that."

"Yes, sir."

"Do not speak of this to your peers, do you understand? There are dark days ahead of us, and fear spreads much more rapidly than hope."

"Yes, sir." It came from both of them, strained, but emphasising that they would follow his orders.

"Good. We need light, and humour in the days ahead. You are bright boys, I think you can work out what to do next. You are dismissed."

They stood, moving towards the doors.

"I hope you know that twenty points each will be deducted from Gryffindor for your actions," he said. "And you will both serve detention for your actions."

They nodded, accepting it and knowing they had got off lightly.

"Good night."

"Good night, sir," James replied, but Sirius was shaking too much to say anything.

They walked back to the tower in silence. James had his hand on Sirius' shoulder, squeezing it every so often. As they turned the corner and faced the Fat Lady, Sirius spoke.

"I don't know why I recognise it." They were standing near a window, and Sirius was staring out over the forest. The skull was above it, the snake curling from its mouth, but it was fading. By daylight, James hoped it would be gone.

"Maybe it's in a book or something," James said. "Maybe he got it from somewhere else? Come on."

They reached the Fat Lady, woke her up and said the password. She grumbled, but let them in. The Common Room was empty, and they went straight through it and up the stairs. Only Remus was awake up there, his curtains open and a book in front of him. He lowered it, put it on the bed stand and turned to them.

"Well?" he asked, voice croaking.

Sirius glanced at the window again. From this angle, the skull couldn't be seen.

"We got caught," James said, as Sirius crossed slowly to his bed. He climbed on, drew the curtains. "Down by the Great Hall. Sent us to Dumbledore's office."

"You were ages." His eyes were wide, full of worry. "We thought something bad had happened."

"We had to wait for Dumbledore. He must have gone to do whatever it was and then came back." He shrugged, sliding onto his own bed. "Points and detention."

Remus nodded. "It's probably for the best."

"Yeah."

In his bed, Sirius took out his wand and whispered the silencing charm, casting it around the small space of his bed. That done, he got undressed and lay down under the covers, holding his hands to his face as he let the sobs come.

"Night, Remus."

"Night, James."

James lay down, pulling his blanket over him and staring up after he had pulled his curtains across. As sleep began to wrap around him, he realised he'd left his invisibility cloak in Dumbledore's office.

To his surprise, he didn't mind that much. He didn't think he would want to use it again for a while, anyway.

X X X 

There was a notice in the Gryffindor Common Room the next day, advising that Transfiguration was, for the foreseeable future, cancelled. Under it was a list of which each year were expected to do in preparation for the next class.

To Remus' surprise, Sirius was silent throughout breakfast. After, he headed to the library, saying only that he was going to get started on the Transfiguration work.

"We don't even know when it's due," Peter had said. "You can leave it for another day, can't you?"

Sirius had just shrugged and walked off, but Remus had seen how red his eyes had been. James, on the other hand, just seemed a bit too talkative. He rambled on about the Quidditch match the day before, asked Remus a number of questions about homework only to cut him off when he was explaining it as they walked back to the tower. He kept glancing out of the windows every time they passed one, relief crossing his face when he turned back.

In the Common Room, Remus sat and helped Peter with History, while James buried himself in Remus' pirate book. He was making good progress in explaining the effect Medieval witch hunts had on magic to Peter, yet his gaze kept wondering to James. Desperately he wanted to ask again what had happened the night before, he wanted to tell James he wouldn't drop it until he knew, but something told him neither boy would tell him. Not until they were ready, anyway.

That Sunday morning seemed to drag slowly. Even the clouds seemed to be barely moving across the sky. Once Peter had grasped the basics of what he needed to know, Remus left the both of them. He made his way down one flight of stairs after leaving the Common Room, and turned a corner. The next window he crossed looked right out onto the forest, and Remus glanced out.

He didn't believe James.

The look of fear on his face when he caught sight of the trees told Remus two things. One, that whatever had happened, it happened out there, and his friends had made it to the forest. Two, the thing that happened had been enough to scare both boys.

He came to a tower near most of their classrooms. He climbed up the stairs, passing McGonagall's office, until he came to the third floor of the tower. He knocked on the door.

It swung open, revealing Professor Harpo. She looked nothing like Remus had seen her before; her hair was tied back with strands falling free, her eyes looked red and she looked beyond tired. Even her clothes were rumpled, and Remus realised they were the same ones she had worn to the Halloween feast the night before.

"Remus," she said, smiling gently. "How can I help you?"

His mouth went dry as he gaped at her, struggling to remember why he had gone to her. Something had pulled and tugged him to the Professor, but he knew he couldn't mention James and Sirius to her. He didn't know what had happened, and he would betraying his friends if he began to talk to them to the teacher.

"I wanted to ask you about…about becoming a hunter," he said, the words coming quickly and rapidly, his mouth thinking of an answer to her question before he could think it through.

To his surprise, the look on her face was full of pity.

"Then you had better come in." She took a step back, and he slid into the room, glancing around. The walls were covered with bookshelves, all of them full with various books on dark magic and magical creatures. There was a door, between shelves, and in the middle of a room was a small coffee table and a couple of comfortable looking armchairs around it.

"Sit down, Remus. Would you like a cup of tea?"

He nodded, settling himself into an armchair as she waved a wand. A teapot and two small china cups appeared on the table, the teapot whistling.

"The elves keep them ready downstairs," she explained, with a soft smile. "They are amazing. The things they can do, the magic they have…they have them ready for all the teachers." She glanced up in the middle of pouring out the tea. "First things first, becoming a hunter isn't easy as it is. And for…for someone like you…well, the Ministry of Magic would make it downright impossible."

And, suddenly, he really did want to become a hunter. Not just because it meant keeping people safe, but because it meant he could meet others like him and help them, too. He leant forward, thinking of how James, last year, and told him how he wanted to be an Auror.

As far as Remus was concerned, it was never too soon to start working towards your future.

"I can do it," he said.

She smiled. "I have no doubt you can, Remus. Merlin knows you have enough talent for it." She tapped her wand against her knee, as if considering. "You'll need to work hard, but you do that anyway. The most important subject is, of course, Defence Against the Dark Arts. We won't be looking at the sort of things hunters need to know until next year, but if you want to get a head start…" She trailed off, stood up and walked towards the book shelves. Her fingers ran along the spines until she found the book she was looking for it. She took it back to the table and placed it down in front of him.

_Wizard's Worst Nightmares Or Potential Allies?_

"Give that a read. Come back when it's finished and I'll give you another one. And when you pick your subjects at the end of the year…I'll remind you of this, okay? Care of Magical Creatures is a must, and Professor Kettleburn is a great teacher. Muggle Studies is a good plus."

"Muggle Studies?"

She grinned. "You'd be surprised. I have to deal with them all the time, Remus. And you need a good understanding of their understanding. You need to know how to create a plausible story for them, and know how to deal with them."

He nodded eagerly.

"All your core subjects will come in useful, so try hard in Potions, Charms and Transfiguration. I bet you're pretty good at Astronomy already, right?"

"Well, I got the phases of the moon quicker than anyone else. But I've known them for years."

"As long as you keep working hard in school, you'll have the basic grounding. Once you're a bit older, you'll need to try to get some experience. But we can come to that later." She rested her elbows on the two arm rests of her chair, hooking her fingers together. "Like I said, that's the basics. What's going to be harder is convincing the Ministry to employ a werewolf."

"It's going to be like that for any job."

She nodded. "And you won't be able to work too much during the full moon. Even if you did manage to get the job without them finding out, that would get picked up on during training. And…this is not something you should take lightly. It is a hard job. Not quite on par with being an Auror, but it's up there. And you have to be just as good as an Unspeakable at keeping secrets."

A grin stretched across his face. "I can do that."

"I know you can." She glanced down at the book. "So, take that, read it, and come back to me when you've finished. Any questions, my door is always open."

He grabbed the book and held it against his chest, smiling at her. "Thank you."

"No problem, Remus. Good luck."

"Thank you."

X X X

Sirius was, at least, at dinner. He ate silently, as the others happily dug into their roast beef and all the trimmings that came with it. As much as he missed his mother's cooking, James had to admit that she couldn't quite do Sunday dinner like the house elves.

His eyes kept darting to Sirius. When Remus had returned to the common room, he had told James and Peter about his meeting with Professor Harpo, and his newfound desire to become a hunter. Immediately, he had started reading the book she had given him, and James felt thankful that he had something to distract him.

"Are you going back to the library after lunch?" he asked, gaze locking on Sirius. His friend shrugged, before glancing up at him. James was taken aback by the new look in his friend's eyes, and wished there was something he could do to get rid of it.

He wondered if his eyes were mirroring the scared look coming from Sirius'.

"Yeah," Sirius finally replied, before dipping his head and continuing to eat.

"Mind I come with you?"

Sirius shook his head.

Peter's gaze snapped between the two of them, while Remus just looked surprised. The surprise soon disappeared.

"You need help with anything else, Pete?"

"Will you read over my History work?"

Remus nodded, with a smile. "Sure."

Gerard Floss appeared behind Remus, smiling at James. "Good job yesterday, Potter. Here." He dropped two pieces of parchment onto the table. "Training schedules for now until Christmas. We don't have a match until afterwards, so we're laying off a bit."

"Okay, great." James eagerly snatched up the parchment, scanning it quickly. The team were practicing Wednesday nights and Sunday afternoons, starting that week. The Sunday practices included the reserve team.

"But I still expect you both to put it some extra hours outside of training, understand?"

"Sure." James slipped the parchment into his pocket. "No problem."

Sirius just nodded, reaching out for the other piece much slower. His fingers grabbed it and he pulled it back, barely even glancing at it as he put it into his own pocket. Remus was frowning at him, but Gerard just nodded and headed off to find the rest of the team. They finished lunch, and Remus and Peter headed off to the tower while Sirius and James made their way to the library.

Outside, James reached for his friend's shoulder and squeezed.

"You okay, Sirius?"

Sirius slowly turned his head to look at him. "They used an Unforgivable," he muttered. "Like…like it was nothing."

"I know," James whispered, glancing uneasily around. "I know, Sirius."

"Why aren't you scared?"

"I am. I'm terrified. I had nightmares last night about that…that…man coming into the castle. But we can't act like anything's wrong. Otherwise they're going to notice."

"I can't stop thinking about it."

They walked into the library, and Sirius walked straight around the bookshelves, until he came to a table already full of books. He sat down in one of the chairs, and James sat opposite him, glancing over the titles.

"_Ancient Symbols, The Markings of Dark Magic, Imagery From Our Past…_Sirius…are you trying to find out about that skull?"

"What else am I supposed to do?"

James grabbed the books, piled them up and moved them to a nearby trolley. Sirius gaped at him, looking annoyed.

"Forget about it," James snapped, sitting back down. "Stop messing yourself up, Sirius! Come on!" Sirius scoffed, stood and crossed to the trolley. James leapt up, lunged for his friend, and grabbed his arm, pulling him back. "If you want to do something," he hissed in his ear, "then let's look up some spells, okay? Let's read Defence books and start paying attention in class."

Sirius slowly turned his head towards James. "What do you mean?"

"Rather than sitting here moping around," James said, trying to keep his voice steady. "Let's learn how to fight, yeah? You know, just in case."

Sirius straightened his back, considering James. Finally, he nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that's a good idea."

James grinned at him and let go. "You look over there," he said, gesturing to one end of the large library, "and I'll look here."

With another nod, Sirius turned and darted off. James let out a deep breath, running his hand through his hair. They could learn all the defensive spells they wanted, could arm themselves to the teeth, but when it came down to it…

He just hoped they would never have to face the mysterious man again.


	14. Chapter 14

Remus couldn't believe the change that had seemed to come over Sirius. He returned to the Common Room with a wide, happy smile, chatting easily to James. James replied, and Sirius laughed, sinking into a sofa opposite Remus.

"Hey," Sirius said. "You two still doing homework?"

"I'm putting Pete through his paces," Remus replied, uncurling his legs. "Just quizzing him on some Transfiguration stuff." He put down the book he had been holding, and glanced at James. He seemed to be deep in thought, his mouth making a sort of side-pout as he stared at the table. When his head jerked up, Remus almost flinched.

"We really need to get into the forbidden section of the library," he said, matter of fact. Peter glanced up from the parchment he was scribbling on. "Well, you know, that's where it's going to say how to become Animagi. If it's anywhere at all."

"You need a teacher's permission," Peter stated, shaking his head. "And who's going to give you and Sirius permission? Or me, for that matter."

"It's rare for them to give permission to anyone under fifth year." Remus sighed. "James, just leave it. It's fine, really."

James shook his head. "They may not give it to us." His gaze fell on Remus, and Remus felt himself squirming under it, knowing he was about to be pulled into something he would rather avoid.

"James…" he whined, shaking his head. "Nuh uh. No way, I am not going to lie to a professor to get books on something that could turn out to be potentially dangerous to all of you."

"Dangerous? Please," James drawled, though he couldn't help but notice Sirius' slight flinch at his side. "What could go wrong?"

A frown appeared on Remus' face, revealing the few premature lines in his forehead. "James, have you seriously looked at those books we've been looking at? Or have you just skipped ahead hoping to find a chapter called _How to Become An Animagi_?"

From the look on James' face, it was clear that was exactly what he had been doing.

"There's a reason it's not just available for you to pull from a shelf," Remus continued. "Those books show those reasons. People have been stuck halfway between animal and human when they try the spell, and the magic needed to get it exactly right is way beyond the level of even a seventh year."

Peter was looking terrified. "I don't want to be stuck as half animal."

"You won't," Remus said. "At least, not forever. The transformation itself is very taxing on the human body, whether you make it happen or it happens anyway. And if you get stuck…you'll last two hours, at the most."

Peter gulped.

"James, please," he said, turning to the dark haired boy with wide eyes. "Drop it. This is all there in the books, the same books you've been looking at. It's dangerous. And I don't want to see my three best friends throw away their lives because of me."

"I'm not dropping it," James replied, his voice steady.

"Me either." Sirius shook his head. "We promise not to try until we're totally ready but we have to do this, Remus. We have to try."

"And so what if it takes us years?" James continued. "We'll keep trying. We'll become better wizards until we can do it, and do it well. And when we've got mini-us running around our feet, we'll hire babysitters and go running under the moon with you. Even if we can't do it until we're old and grey, Remus. We will do it."

Remus let out a deep sigh, as Peter groaned.

"Peter?" Sirius said, and Peter's head jerked up. "What do you think?"

The smaller boy paled.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to." James' voice was soft, kind. "If you gets too hard, you can always say no."

"No." His voice was suddenly firm, and the three boys gaped at him. "No, I'm not going to give up, either. Friends don't give up on each other."

Remus sank down in his seat, shaking his head as James and Sirius grinned at Peter.

"Okay, Remus. It's three to one. Here's what you're going to have to do…"

X X X

They waited until later in the week to implement the plan. The first three days seemed to go by awfully fast for Remus, but Tuesday afternoon James was moaning about how slow the day was going. Remus suspected it also had something to do with Wednesday night's Quidditch practice, when for the first time, James would be alone with his fellow players. Clearly, he was expecting admiration and praise for the match.

It was the free periods that were previously taken up by Transfiguration that seemed to have the most effect. To Remus' surprise, James and Sirius diligently got on with their work, asking Remus for a bit of help whenever they were stuck. Rumours ran around the castle about why McGonagall couldn't teach them, and Remus thought all of them – including a bad douse of flu – were just not true. Others were more absurd; that she had been abducted and Dumbledore was trying to rescue her, that she had fallen off a tower, that she had run away with a wizard from Hogsmeade.

Strangely, neither James nor Sirius commented on any of them.

He thought, at first, that maybe they were becoming so dedicated to Transfiguration to build up the essential blocks needed to become animagi. But, as Tuesday slipped into Wednesday, he realised that, taking it all together, there was a different reason.

Because they knew what had happened.

They, unlike every other student in the castle, knew why McGonagall wasn't up to teaching.

Wednesday, after classes but before dinner, Remus headed back to Professor Harpo's office. As he was leaving the Common Room, Lily caught up with him.

"We need to hang out," she said, imitating his strides.

"Not now, Lily."

"I don't mean right now!" She rolled her eyes. "But Potter has Quidditch practice tonight, right? How about an Exploding Snap tournament? Me, you, Peter and Alice."

She was grinning, and he wondered what she had her sleeve.

"Yeah, okay."

Her grin grew wider. "Good."

"What about Sirius?"

She shrugged, before her face changed. "Is he okay? He seems…quiet. And three days without a prank in the castle." She shuddered. "It doesn't feel quite right, does it?"

Remus laughed, almost wishing he could tell her what he had been thinking. But, he figured, there must have been a reason Sirius and James were staying quiet, and he didn't want to give them a reason not to tell him anything.

"Where you going anyway?"

"Professor Harpo's. You?"

"The library. Got a bit stuck on the History stuff, thought maybe I'd find some answers there." She smiled, lancing sideways at him. "Why are you going to Harpo's?"

"She's giving me some extra reading," he told her. "I told her I was considering maybe going into hunting when I got out of school."

Lily stopped, staring at him. "Nuh uh, you're way too nice for that."

"Lily, it's more subduing than killing. Helping people and that."

She seemed to consider it for a moment, then sighed. "Okay, well, if I was going to guess a job for you, helping people would be on the list of criteria. God knows you help Potter and Black enough." She flashed him a wide smile. "See you later, Remus." With that, she whirled around and darted off, quickly disappearing around the corner. Remus shook his head, before turning in the opposite direction, once more heading for the tower where the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor lived.

As he walked, his steps grew slower, heavier. He dragged his feet, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans, wondering if she really would give him what he wanted.

No, what James and Sirius and Peter wanted.

Eventually, as he inevitably would, he reached the door.

James' argument had been that Harpo already liked him. She already knew he had an interest in subjects beyond his level, and he had endeared himself to her by expressing a desire to follow her career-path. Therefore, James said, she would be more than happy to help him achieve that.

Remus knocked.

It swung open. Professor Harpo looked much better than the last time he had seen her. Her hair was tied back again, but in a tight ponytail, all strands kept back by the band or, he thought, perhaps magic. He had already seen some of the older girls use magic to keep their hair exactly how they liked it. Lily had told him their Muggle counterparts used something called hairspray.

"Remus." She sounded surprised, but smiled all the same. She seemed filled with some renewed energy, and she ushered him in. "You haven't finished that book already, have you?"

A sheepish smile came on his face. "Almost. But I actually wanted to ask you about something else."

She frowned. "Haven't changed your mind already, have you?"

"No. It's just, well, I'm going to have to make myself stand out, aren't I? Even more so than anyone else. I'm going to be at a disadvantage enough as it is."

"You'll stand out, Remus. Trust me. You're way beyond your level already. Not just in my classes." Her eyes twinkled. "The other teachers speak highly of you. I'm surprised you're not in Slughorn's club."

"James and Sirius were invited to it. They didn't seem too interested, though."

She smiled. "I can see why. Slughorn is a fan of long lines of pure-blooded families. He'll try again for Sirius soon enough, don't worry. As for the rest, well, once you prove yourself, you'll be invited."

"What house were you in?" he asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

"Not at all. I was in Hufflepuff, when I started. Then I transferred to Beuxbaton for my sixth year." She shuddered. "My parents moved to France and wanted me close. Their education is impressive, but it was…overwhelming. And if you weren't part of the right group…" She seemed to consider this. "Well, not so different to here, really. But Hogwarts was where my friends were, and I begged my parents to let me come back for my seventh year."

"I couldn't imagine going somewhere else."

"You've made some good friends, haven't you?"

He nodded.

"Good. Don't ever underestimate the value of friendship. It can save your life. And destroy it if you forget that. I sound like Dumbledore, don't I? Anyway, so, what's your plan to make yourself stand out even more?"

"I think…" He took a deep breath, his mind whirling as he struggled to drag the words out of his mouth. He didn't want to lie to her, didn't want to lie to any teacher but Professor Harpo had been so kind to him.

And then he remembered the looks on his friend's faces, and thought of what she had said only moments before.

"I want to do some more reading," he said. "I'm getting through the books in the library, but some of them are just…too easy. I want something more advanced."

She studied him carefully. "So what do you have in mind? Raiding my shelves? Or just recommendations?"

Another deep breath. The words tumbled out now, rushed. He just wanted to get it over with. "I wanted to see the books in the forbidden section."

She said nothing for a few moments, just stared at him, and he thought she was going to outright refuse. She looked on the verge of it. Not that it would have surprised him. There were rumours of some books there that could drive an unprepared student mad.

There were very good reasons why the section was reserved for those who had permission from a teacher. And Remus suspected it was because the teachers would know exactly who could handle it and who couldn't.

"Let me think about it," she said, slowly, drawing the words out almost as if she regretted not just saying no. He wished she had, wished she would have dashed the hopes of James and Sirius there and then.

Why couldn't they have just gone in James' invisibility cloak?

"Okay." He wouldn't mention that to them. He just thanked her, turned and headed out, making his way back to the tower and deciding, on the way, that he would tell his friends what they didn't want to hear.

He would tell them she had just said no.

X X X

Every so often, Sirius' eyes flickered to them from his seat nearby. He had his nose buried in a book, and Remus swore he had seen him read more since Saturday than he'd read since Remus had met him. Still, he couldn't ignore the gaze whenever it fell on him, as beside him Peter played Exploding Snap against Alice, and Remus played against Lily.

Lily cheered Alice on when Alice's hand slammed down on the pile of cards. Those in front of Remus and Lily burst into flames, and Remus felt something brush against him. Out of the corner of his eye, something left the common room. He looked over his other shoulder, to see that Sirius had gone.

"I'll be back," he promised Lily, scrambling to his feet and walking quickly after his friend. He didn't pay attention to the look on her face, as he dived out and the portrait swung close behind him. Sirius disappeared around the corridor, and Remus dug into his pocket.

He'd been testing the map, trying out various spells on it. One of them involved taking the hair of someone and binding it into the parchment. It was easily removable, but if the person whose hair it was drank a certain potion, they would appear on the map.

And Sirius always left his hair brush lying around. It hadn't been too hard, not when the boys often got each other drinks if they were in the common room and dorm.

He grinned to himself as he and Sirius both appeared, in the form of dots, on the map.

Remus leant against the wall, watching Sirius. The other boy was moving quickly, and he soon stopped near the closest boy's bathroom. So far, Remus had only been able to etch out part of the school; he'd managed to get a few corridors near the Common Room, and the Great Hall, library…but much of it was missing.

Still, it served for now.

Remus frowned as Sirius headed into the bathroom. They had toilets and showers right next to the bedrooms; why would he need to be in there?

The map was soon stuffed back in his pocket, as he strolled towards the bathroom. It wouldn't be shown to anyone until he had finished experimenting with it. For now, it was his own little project, his own secret, something he could work on when the others were busy – playing Quidditch, catching up on homework or combining their efforts in researching animagi.

He reached the bathroom and stepped inside, pausing near the door and listening.

From the only closed stall, he heard the sound of muffled sobs.

**A/N: What do you think? Liking it? Hating it? More importantly, **_**why**_**? As always, would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on the chapter.**


	15. Chapter 15

Floss used his wand to make his voice heard over the sound of the wind. He called out commands, tips and fierce barks, instructing his team as he flew between them all, studying their posture, eyeing the way they flew on their brooms and judging them all for their skills.

He hovered beside James for a while, as the other beater batted the big, heavy bludgers towards him. Floss was out of the line of fire, but had his gaze fixed on the youngest member of the team.

James ducked and dived, both hands gripped on the broom as he focused on dodging first one, then the other. The beater flew back and forth, going after each ball as it sailed off and sending it back towards James.

He rolled in the air, upside down for only a few seconds, before righting himself.

"Not too bad, Potter," Floss said. "No try it with your hands off the broom."

"What?" James shook his head. "I…you can't be serious."

"What do you do if you have the quaffle?" Floss cried back. "If you're flying, holding onto that ball, you won't be able to grip the broom. At least try dodging one handed."

The seeker was whizzing around, looking for the snitch that Floss had let out when they started practicing. He'd caught it a couple of times, let it go and kept his eyes shut for twenty seconds, giving the small, flying ball a chance to disappear completely before he went looking for it again.

The other chasers were practicing their passes, throwing the ball to each other, from various distances, every so often turning and aiming for one of the goals, where the keeper hovered, trying to stop any from getting through.

James took a deep breath, head snapping to the right to see the black ball whizzing towards him. He dipped his broom forward, removed one hand, and prepared for the next attack.

Floss was frowning, though James had learnt that this particular look wasn't one of anger or disproval. It was simply the way the captain looked while he was thinking.

The bludger came back towards him, and he swerved the broom, almost falling off without the extra hold his hand gave him. His balance was off, and he had to focus more on directing the broom.

The ball narrowly missed him.

"Okay, good. Stop." Gerard held a hand in the air, and the beater whacked the ball upwards, out of the way. "Potter, do a few laps around the pitch. One handed." James nodded and set off, as Floss commanded the next chaser to take his place, while the third chaser and the keeper were to practice the passes.

When the others did it, they made it look easy.

For some reason, James had been able to do it while holding the quaffle. Flying one handed hadn't seemed so hard then. But without anything to keep his other hand occupied, he found it kept trying to grasp the broom. And he just couldn't get the balance right. The things that came so easily to him when he wasn't thinking about it just seemed to elude him now.

He kept glancing at the others. Floss was flying around them, circling them, telling them what they needed to improve, commenting on their last match.

Their win, it seemed, didn't mean it was time to relax.

He stopped the broom, gripping it with both hands. Head bowed, he took deep breaths.

_I can do this. I can do this. I can do this._

Part of him was really hoping his animagus form would be a bird.

Why was he finding it so difficult? Up in the air, he always felt at home. Like it was where he belonged.

From everything he read, it seemed that the form taken, when becoming an animagus, was the form that would allow the witch or wizard to feel most free. It would be the animal that was most closely linked to the person's spirit.

If he was a bird, something like a hawk, he could fly without even needing a broom.

He could go anywhere.

James opened his eyes, took his hand off the broom, and curled his fingers into a fist.

_You can do this, Potter._

He carried on with the lap. This time, instead of concentrating on keeping his hand off the broom, he focused on the sky ahead of him. He let energy flow through him, didn't panic when the broom shuddered and his body shook, when he thought he was going to lose his balance.

James turned the corner, clenching his fist tighter to stop the urge to grab the broom.

He let the broom fly, rather than trying too hard to control it. It was a decent broom, anyway, one that only needed a slight tug in one direction or the other to turn. He didn't need both hands on it, he didn't need to grip on so tightly.

He could fly one handed, he'd done it before, the only difficultly was in having to do it, rather than letting it come naturally.

Once he'd completed the lap, he grabbed the broom with both hands and flew towards Gerard. The captain glanced at him, before gesturing to the third chaser and the keeper. James joined them, the keeper flying back to the posts and trying to defend them from the other two.

Eventually, Gerard ordered them down. When they landed, they split up; the other two chasers, both girls, headed for their locker room, while the boys went for the others.

He could feel Gerard's eyes on him the whole way back.

James ducked in the shower, keen to avoid the captain, and let the hot water wash off the sweat and muck on him. He tilted his head back, closing his eyes and relishing the sharp sting as the water warmed him. He took his time; there was no reason to rush, and James was enjoying the solitude.

When he did finally emerge, he and Gerard were the only two left.

Gerard was sitting on one of the benches, now in his casual clothes, his eyes lingering on James. James smiled nervously.

"Not too shabby, Potter." Gerard stood, grabbing his broom from near his feet. "But there's still a lot to improve on. You need to get your fitness levels up, too." He was done. James stared at Gerard's retreating back as he left the locker room.

X X X

"Where's Sirius?"

Remus was curled up one of the armchairs, reading a book. Peter sat opposite him, working hard on homework. Only Sirius was missing.

James stood over Remus, running a hand through his still wet hair. Remus shrugged, barely even glancing up from his book.

"He went for a walk. Earlier."

James frowned. "A walk? Where to?"

Another shrug. "How should I know?"

"Didn't you ask him?"

Remus' head snapped up, and he fixed James with a surprisingly cold glare. "No. I didn't. I figured if he wanted us to know, he would have said."

"All right, all right." James held up his hands, glancing around the room. Most people there were busy; catching up on homework or engaged in various games. James lowered himself into a seat near the other two, leaning back with his hand cupping his chin. He frowned. "Did he seem okay to you?"

"Sure. Seemed fine."

"Remus…"

"I said he seemed fine." It was almost a growl, and James resisted the urge to flinch.

"Okay. What you reading?"

He held up the cover. One of the books he'd been given by Professor Harpo. James glanced away, staring at the entrance to the Common Room. "Been up too much?"

"We had an Exploding Snap tournament with Lily and Alice," Peter explained.

"Cool. Who won?"

"Lily."

He looked like he was going to say more, but glanced quickly at Remus, remained quiet and returned to his work.

James reached for the table, grabbed one of the books stacked there, and opened it to begin reading. Eventually, Sirius returned, and glanced once at the others with a shaky smile before heading straight for the dorm.

Remus and James got to their feet at the same time.

They cast each other equal glares, before Remus relented, rolled his eyes and fell back down in the chair. "Fine. You go."

James grinned, turned and darted up the dorms. As soon as he was out of sight, the smile faded. When he reached the bedroom, it was to see Sirius sat on the end of the bed, bending over to untie his trainers. He glanced up, then back down, and James approached slowly.

He waited, silent, as Sirius kicked off his shoes and looked up again.

"Are you okay?" he asked, sitting on the bed beside his friend.

"Fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've been crying."

Sirius looked away quickly, but it was too late. James had already seen the red, puffy eyes. "No, I haven't."

A hand fell on his shoulder, and James squeezed gently. "Sirius…"

"How are you okay?" he muttered, still looking away. "How are you not falling apart?"

"You really think I'm okay?" James lowered his voice. "Sirius, I'm just as scared as you are. I know what you're going through. Really. I've been putting silencing charms around my bed every night."

"Serious?"

"James." He jabbed a finger at his chest, before jabbing it at Sirius'. "Sirius. Can't you even get that right?"

He turned his head back to James, grinning now. The grin quickly faded. "What do we do?"

"What we always do. We pull a prank that will go down in the history of Hogwarts, and we cheer everyone up." He was getting a strong sense of déjà vu, but how was he going to make it all stick in Sirius' head? How could he make his best friend stop thinking about what they'd seen, when he relived it every night?

"Okay," Sirius muttered, nodding. "Okay. Let's do it. And we keep learning the spells, yeah?"

"Of course. Next time, we'll be ready."

X X X

Once more, Remus found himself in the library. But he wasn't studying, or focusing on homework. Instead, he was pouring over Charms and Transfiguration books, looking for some sort of spell – or mix of spells – that would suit James' and Sirius' needs, and that they would be able to perform.

He glanced around, keeping a wary eye out for the librarian, before folding over the corner of the page he was on. Remus flicked through the books, jotting down notes and page numbers, skipping back and forth and desperately wishing the answer would just jump out at him.

It should have been easier than homework, and more fun.

But for Remus, it really wasn't.

At least with homework, there was a constant direction. There was a clear aim. With this, all he had to go on was James' desire to pull a prank.

"Any luck?"

He spun around to see James and Sirius poking their heads around one of the shelves. Remus shook his head. Sirius still didn't seem right, not completely, but he did seem better. Maybe focusing on the task at hand was giving him something else to think about, rather than whatever it was that had been bothering him.

Both of them slid around and came to join Remus at the table, James pulling the parchment towards him and scanning it. Sirius picked up one of the books and began to flick through it, his eyes scanning the pages before turning to another.

"You know it's really hard when you have no idea what you want to do."

James shrugged. "We just need something…amazing." His eyes darted up, locking on Remus. "Everyone's been so tense lately. We want to cheer them up."

Remus leaned back, racking his brains. Something big, but something they could do. Nothing too complicated.

He reached forward, grabbing a potions book that he'd looked through earlier in the day. He flicked through it, until he found what he was looking for. "We'd need to get the ingredients," Remus muttered. "But we should have some of them already in our own potions supplies. The rest…" He shrugged. "We might have to raid Slughorn. And then you'd have to find a way to get into the kitchen to spike the drinks."

He pushed the book towards James, open on the page he had been looking at. James scanned over it, a smile breaking out on his face as he turned the book towards Sirius.

"Remus, this will be brilliant."

"If we can get it in all the drinks, including ours…" Remus shrugged. "Maybe they won't think it was us."

Sirius nodded, his grin matching James'. "And the effects only last a half hour," he said. "So it's not like we'll be like it for long. Yeah. This. We have to do this." 


	16. Chapter 16

They couldn't work out whether the hardest part would be getting the extra ingredients, or getting into the kitchens. Not having the cloak made both hard enough, but he couldn't tell Remus and Peter how he had lost it. They would have questions, questions they couldn't answer.

They made a list of the potion ingredients they already had, before making a separate list of ones that were in the student cupboard in Slughorn's classroom. They could easily sneak them out when getting other things they needed in class.

"How are we going to get the rest?" Peter asked, as they looked over the list once more before bed one evening. William and Michael were still in the common room, meaning the four had the room to themselves.

"We need a distraction," James muttered, running his finger down the very short list of ingredients they could only get in Slughorn's personal supplies. "Either that or we somehow convince Slughorn to let us have a look."

They all turned to Remus. The boy sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"If we outright asked Slughorn for them, when we did it he'd know it was us."

"Not if you could get him to leave you alone," Sirius said. "Go on, Remus. All you have to do is tell Slughorn you're working on a project, an advanced potion. He'd believe you."

Remus opened his mouth, but was cut off by James.

"Just grab something you'd need for…" He flicked through the book. "This. Then, if he asks to see it, just show him the other stuff you took."

Remus looked at the page. It was a potion they wouldn't be able to do until at least fifth year; a potion that changed your eyes to match your mood for a few hours.

"And if Slughorn asks to see the results?"

"Tell him it failed," James replied, shrugging. "Tell him it exploded or something. And look really upset about it."

"I really don't think this will work."

"Always worth a shot." Sirius leant forward, grinning at him. "Please, Remus? For us?"

All three turned towards him then, eyes wide and pleading. "I'm the only one who should be able to do puppy dog eyes that well," he muttered, crossing his arms. It was Sirius who could do them the best, Sirius who could make you feel really, really sorry for him. "All right. I'll do it."

X X X

That Friday, when their Potions class finished, Remus hung back.

"Professor Slughorn." In his hand he clutched a list of ingredients for the eye colour potion. In his pocket sat the short list for the ones they needed for the prank potion. Slughorn looked up from his desk, smiling at Remus.

"Ah, Remus. I've been meaning to ask you something."

Remus blinked at him, slightly stunned. "Err, actually, sir, I was wondering if I could ask you about something."

Slughorn laughed. "Isn't that always the way it is? Well, let me go first. The Christmas holidays are coming up and, well, I'm having a little party. I was wondering if you would be interested in attending."

The club. It had to be. And Remus has seen the way Slughorn had been slightly less interested in James and Sirius once they stopped attending the meetings, or tea parties, or whatever they were. If he refused, Slughorn was more than likely to refuse Remus the ingredients.

He nodded. "Sure. I'd be delighted."

"Good. Glad to hear it. And mention it to Mr Potter and Mr Black too, will you? They might enjoy themselves. Now, what was it you wanted, Mr Lupin?"

Remus uncurled his hand, placing the parchment on the desk. "I was…well, I wanted to try something a bit above our level, sir. But these ingredients…"

Slughorn picked up the parchment, scanning it. He smiled. "Well, Mr Lupin, I admire your ambition. It's a great surprise you're not in my own house." He chuckled. "The Wynburg Potion. A very interesting choice. And it is certainly a favourite among the fifth years. Though when not prepared probably, it can have some strange consequences. Only a few years ago, one of my students found his whole skin changed. It altered colour rapidly throughout the day." He glanced up at Remus. "At this stage, Mr Lupin, I would say I don't think your skills are quite advanced enough. But if you agree to show me the potion at the final stage, before you drink it, then I cannot see why you cannot attempt it." He reached into his pocket, pulled out a set of keys, and handed them to Remus. He gestured at the door at the back of the classroom. "You will find the required ingredients in there. And I will allow you use of the spare room down the corridor, to help with your potion. If you come across any difficulties, please seek me out."

"Thank you, sir." He could barely believe it; it all seemed too easy. Professor Harpo still hadn't given him permission to go into the restricted section of the library, but at least she had been willing to consider it. And Slughorn…

Remus turned and darted to the back of the room. He heard Slughorn chuckle to himself, stand and leave.

"Just drop those off at my office when you're done, please, Remus. And don't forget to lock up."

"I won't." With trembling hands, he unlocked the door and slid in.

The smell hit him instantly.

The strength of it was overpowering, and he couldn't put his finger on what it was. Maybe because it was a multitude of different smells, attacking his nose from all sides. His eyes roamed quickly over the shelves, grabbing the ingredients for both potions and gently placing them in his bag. He resisted the urge to look at anything else, suspecting the sight of some of the things contained in there was likely to make him sick.

As soon as he was done he left, locking the door and casting a quick charm on his bag, to make sure the ingredients didn't bash into each other and break. That done, he left and headed for Slughorn's office, dropping off the keys and thanking the professor once more before heading to the common room.

James and Sirius were already waiting for him, before heading down to the Great Hall for dinner. Their eyes locked on him as soon as he walked in, and he went straight past them, up to the dorms.

They followed, and he could hear them scrambling off the chairs and practically running as they tried to keep up with him.

From the bathroom, he could hear running water.

"Peter got something on his tie at breakfast," Sirius explained, stepping into the room as Remus crouched down beside his bed and began to empty his bag, putting the various ingredients in his bedside cabinet. "He's trying to wash it off."

"You got them then?"

Remus nodded, turning to see James practically bouncing on the balls of his feet, a huge grin on his face.

"Great! When can we start the potion?"

"The herbs have to be left to stew for three days," Remus replied, standing up and stretching his back. "In charmed water. I'll get that sorted tonight."

"Okay, then what?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Can't we just go to lunch? I'm starving."

"Me, too." Peter stepped out of the bathroom, rubbing his tie. The stain was still there.

"I'll go through it all with you later," Remus promised. "Oh, and you're coming to Slughorn's Christmas party."

Sirius and James gaped at him. "What?"

"He asked me, and I had to say yes in case saying no meant he wouldn't let me get the supplies. And he said to mention it to you two, as well. If I have to go, you have to go."

James rolled his eyes. "But…"

"Remus is right," Sirius cut in. "It's only fair."

"Two?" Peter asked. "So, I don't have to go then?"

He sounded almost disappointed. "I wouldn't worry about it, Pete. The Slug Club is full of ambitious, stuck up students," James explained. "It's going to suck."

As if in reply, Peter's stomach grumbled.

"Come on, let's get lunch." Sirius turned and headed back out the dorm, the other three following.

X X X

When classes had all finished, and most other students were lounging around the common room, the four friends headed up the dorm to begin the preparation for the potion.

Remus talked them through the steps as he did them himself. He put the herbs in a bowl of cold water, before waving his wand over it and repeating the words laid out in the book.

"What if it goes wrong?" Peter whispered.

"Shush." Sirius nudged him. "Can't you see he's concentrating?"

"Sorry."

"It's okay." Remus smiled at him, before returning to the task at hand. "We have to leave this on the windowsill, for three days," he said. "So it gets both sunlight and moonlight."

The other three nodded.

Remus scanned the book, eyeing the instructions. "Crush the beetles into a fine powder." Peter winced. "Then sprinkle it across the herbs. Take the eye of a reptile…"

"We've got that, right?" Sirius muttered, and Remus nodded.

"Slughorn had loads of snake parts," Remus explained. "Managed to get a snakeskin, too. Okay, so the eye of the reptile has to be put in a boiling cauldron, along with the fur of a mammal and the beak of a bird. Along with the skin, feathers or fur of a beast of the creator's own choosing." He glanced up at the others. "That's what I got the snakeskin for."

They nodded again.

"Well, we can't do anything until the herbs are done…" James paused, trying to search for the right word. "Resting? Or whatever. You okay keeping that all your cabinet until we're ready?"

Remus nodded. "We might get away with doing it in the dungeons," he said. "But we can't all be in there at the same time."

"I'm no good at Potions," Sirius said, eyes darting from one boy to the other. "If I go with Remus, and Slughorn sees us, we can always say Remus is just helping me."

James grinned. "Okay, we'll do that. It makes sense anyway." He ran a hand through his hair, staring down at the book. "Anything else we may have forgotten?"

"I don't think so." Remus scanned the page once more, frowning as he re-read every line. "If there is, then I've got three days to remember and check. We should be all right."

"Okay, good." James picked up the bowl and took it to the windowsill, placing it down gently before drawing the curtains to hide it. He turned to the others with a wide smile. "Anyone up for chess?"

X X X

The weekend passed uneventfully. The lists for students to sign, if they were staying over the Christmas holidays, were passed around, and James, Remus, Sirius and Peter all put their names down.

When Monday arrived, James could barely sit still. Remus had already told him the potion should be ready by the end of the week; once it had actually been made, it had to stew in a cool, dark place for two days. They'd decided on the closest at their end of the dorm, where they could keep an eye on it. Friday, James and Sirius were planning on sneaking into the kitchen to put the potion in the drinks.

"Mr Lupin," Professor Harpo called at the end of their Defence lesson that morning. "Can I see you for a moment?" The others headed off to Charms, as Remus walked towards Harpo's desk. She smiled at him, and he instantly relaxed. "Here." She handed him a slip of parchment.

_I, Professor Gabrielle Harpo, hereby grant Remus Lupin permission to access the restricted section of Hogwarts Library._

Remus stared at the slip, with the professor's signature on it. "Thank you."

"If there's any student I think I can trust in the restricted section, it's you, Mr Lupin. I couldn't see any good reason why I should deny you access."

Remus nodded, slowly, before slipping the parchment into his pocket.

"If you have any questions, my door is always open, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you. Again. Really. You've been…you've really helped me, Professor Harpo."

She grinned at him. "That's what I'm here for, Remus. Now, go on, you're already late for your next class."

He turned, heading out the door. His heart was beating fiercely, his pulse was racing, and he couldn't believe he'd lied so easily to two teachers.

But James, Sirius and Peter were his friends. They'd accepted him, completely, and he knew he would do anything for them.

He began to run, not just because he was late, but because he felt like he had too much energy to just stroll along.

Despite his reservations, now they could actually get into the restricted section, he felt excited. Nervous and worried, still, but eager all the same. Because, if everything worked out against the odds, then maybe he wouldn't have to dread the full moon as much as he did.


	17. Chapter 17

The area around the restricted section of the library was deathly quiet. Students avoided sitting near it. Those who tried often moved away quickly, saying there was something about the area that just wasn't right. It was darker than the rest of the library, too, with fewer candles around those particular bookshelves.

The librarian looked at him over the top of the parchment, looking suspicious as she gazed at him.

She put the slip down and waved her wand over it, muttering something under her breath, too quiet for Remus to catch the spell. A green line came from her wand, winding in the air and forming words.

_Gabrielle Harpo._

She sighed, put the slip in a drawer, and waved Remus towards the restricted section.

As he approached, the air grew colder. He felt like a ghost had gone through him. But he pushed onwards, until he was standing between the shelves that very few students were allowed access to. From behind, he could feel her eyes on him.

He began to study the books, gazing at their spines. He did not want to read the wrong one, did not want to pick something out that could actually physically do something to him.

Remus eyes were drawn to a book with a moon on the spine. A full moon. A perfect, silver orb. He reached out, taking the book and turning to stare at its cover.

_The Truth Behind Our Darkest Fears._

He opened the book, eyes scanning the author's introduction.

_For centuries we have used dark creatures to scare our children. We have taken real life tales and twisted them, so our children would not misbehave. But when they ask challenging questions, we often have no answer for them. How is a dementor made? What happens if a person is turned into a vampire? What is a werewolf like during the rest of the month?_

_We cannot answer these because they scare us. We refuse to seek out the truth because we are terrified of what we could so easily become. We, as humans, as wizards and witches, are all too fearful of what we don't understand._

_Between these pages, dear reader, you will find the answers to these questions. And many more. Read interviews with those who live the lives we know nothing about. Hear Elizabeth's tale of how her brother's innocent soul was taken, and twisted into a guard of Azkaban. Read an interview with John, a former Auror who fought darkness at every turn, only to be fired from his position when it was discovered he was a werewolf. And listen, as Gareth goes into great detail of his struggles as a vampire and how he survives without human blood._

Remus smiled, gripping the book tight as he continued to look. Why was a book like that in the restricted section? Surely the other students could have benefited from reading the real life tales of people affected by that sort of thing?

What if one of them faced it one day?

What if a vampire or a werewolf attacked them?

From first-hand experience, he knew the world was not kind to those who were seen as dark creatures. Not even if it was something they were unable to help. Part of him hoped that, one day, if there was a child who had the misfortune of becoming like him, he could help them.

Like Marcus had helped him.

Teaching, becoming a Ministry Hunter…both of them could lead him to that.

Or, he thought, he could set up some sort of agency for those affected to seek help. A support group. He chuckled at the idea, drawing the eyes of the librarian towards him.

His eyes roamed over book after book after book, but none of them looked even remotely like they could help their own situation.

Remus put the book on the floor, and got to his knees, squinting as he read the titles on the very bottom shelf. Dark curses, dark magic, how to create dark potions…

Advanced curses, ingredient books that listed the properties of living animals and blood, advanced transfiguration.

He grabbed the last one, scanning the cover.

_Be Anything. _

Remus opened the book, flicking through the pages. There were rapidly changing pictures, hurting his eyes as he saw a wizard turn into an inanimate object, as he saw a lion turn into a sofa and back and, finally, right in the middle, a man turn into a hawk.

He looked at the top of the page.

_Animagus._

Remus grinned, drawing the book tight to his chest and grabbing the other one.

His heart beat hard in his chest, and excitement bubbled up inside as he got to his feet and took the books to the desk.

X X X

With every day, they got just a little bit closer.

The potion, as far as Remus could tell, was going well. When he and Sirius were down in the dungeons working on it, James would sit in the dorm and read through the transfiguration book, making notes as he went and summing up what he had found when Remus and Sirius returned. Peter worked hard, practicing basic spells and charms that the other three had already mastered, with a bit of help from James.

Even the teachers were surprised.

None more so than McGonagall, who found a changed James and Sirius when she returned to class. The first class she took with the second year Gryffindors, she stared in open mouthed surprise when both of them put their hands up to answer a question.

Gone were the boys who sat at the back of the class, laughing and talking, remaining silent when she told them off. Now, they were quiet when they had to be, focused when she spoke, and answered questions almost as much as Remus and Lily.

On top of that, their enthusiasm even infected Peter.

All four were working hard, in class and out. The other three combined their efforts to help Peter, and together they managed to rack up a fair number of points for Gryffindor.

James mused that it was, perhaps, because the professors were collectively stunned at their new efforts.

"We're going to need those points," he said, one evening, when Sirius and Remus returned from the dungeons. "I mean, if we get caught doing this, they're going to take a load of points off us."

The three nodded their agreement.

The day the potion was ready, Remus went to see Slughorn.

"Ah, Mr Lupin." He seemed happy to see the student, and ushered him into the office. "What can I do for you? The potion not giving you any trouble, I hope?" His eyes twinkled.

Remus sighed. "I'm sorry, sir. Something went wrong. It…well, it didn't explode, in so much as…well, it just kind of…" He paused, frowning as if he was trying to think of the right word. "Imploded. There's nothing left." He had been careful. Remus had dug out books about the potion, had read up on the signs that it was going wrong, and worked out that it was more than likely to implode if one didn't let the ingredients sit for the right amount of time.

Slughorn nodded, slowly. "Yes, my boy, it's unfortunate but that can happen. Are you looking forward to my Christmas party?"

"Yes, sir. I think I've managed to convince James and Sirius to attend, too."

"Good, good. It's always nice to see students mingling. Especially with others not of their houses." He smiled. "If you do feel up for attempting the potion again, just come see me. I may be able to lend an extra helping hand, if you need it."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

Remus left, darting into the spare room on his way out of the dungeons, gathering up everything he and Sirius had brought down.

As he made his way back up the tower, James was making his way up to the dorm, mentally going through the next steps in his head.

He opened the door and stood, stunned, staring at his bed.

Folded on it was his invisibility cloak.

With a grin, he darted forward and picked it up, throwing it over himself before glancing in the mirror.

It would make sneaking into the kitchens a lot easier.

He waited in the dorm for the others, and before long was joined by Remus, Sirius and Peter. Remus had the potion, ready in a vial, and he handed it to James.

"Two drops. Okay?"

James nodded. "Two drops. Got it." He held up the invisibility cloak. A grin appeared on Sirius' face, before James threw the cloak over both of them and they vanished from sight. Remus and Peter led them down to the common room, leaving the tower with them and heading off the library, while James and Sirius followed the stairs down to the floor directly underneath the Great Hall.

They didn't speak a word as they went down, scared of alerting passing students or teachers to their presence. Instead, they shuffled along, ducking out of the way when someone appeared quickly around a corner.

Sirius was the first to speak, when they came into a corridor that was empty.

"Do you think he knows?"

"Who?" James replied, keeping his voice to a whisper despite the lack of anyone else.

"Dumbledore. I mean…he practically told us to do a prank, didn't he? And he returned the cloak on the day we're planning to do it…"

"Sure he knows. Dumbledore knows everything."

They reached the painting that led into the kitchen. James glanced up and down the corridor, before giving a quick nod to Sirius. Reaching out, Sirius tickled the pear, and the painting swung forward.

The pair scrambled inside.

The house elves ran around, doing various tasks for the meal they were in the midst of preparing. None of them seemed to notice the entrance had opened and closed, and none seemed to sense the two boys under the invisibility cloak in their presence.

Sirius stifled a giggle.

Each of the tables were laid out to mimic the tables upstairs. It was close enough to dinner that food was already on there, waiting for the students to arrive so the elves could send it up.

And the goblets already contained pumpkin juice.

The two boys went to each table, tipping the vial and putting two drops in each cup. Sirius was almost ready to burst by the time they got to the Slytherin table, and as soon as they were done James rushed them both out, the vial now empty.

Once they were in the corridor, they broke into a run, moving quickly back through the castle and upstairs. They burst into the common room, sprinted towards the dorms, and threw off the cloak.

Sirius burst into laughter, clutching his stomach as he fell back on the bed.

"This is going to be awesome," he said, between bursts.

James nodded his agreement, grinning as he eagerly looked forward to dinner.

X X X

Remus had already explained that the potion would take around ten minutes to kick in. The time depended on the length that certain ingredients were allowed to stew; he'd managed to stretch it out to ten so that a group wouldn't get affected, alerting the others.

James' eyes darted around the hall, paying careful attention to those who drank deeply from their goblets. He made sure to drink as well, nudging Peter to do the same.

The chatter in the hall, as always, was loud.

James glanced at the teacher's table. Dumbledore was leaning towards McGonagall, listening intently to something she was saying. But his eyes landed on the four boys, and he winked at James.

From the Hufflepuff table, came a loud squawking. Everyone glanced at each other, looking confused, as growls began to emit from the Ravenclaw table. The hall burst into noise. Roars, barks, neighing…

A few people began to laugh, before they started meowing or squeaking.

Remus let out a howl, his hand clamping tightly over his mouth as he stared wide-eyed at James. James laughed, along with Sirius, before both were overcome. Sirius let out a bark, James snorted. Peter began squeaking. The teachers gaped around the hall, as each student began to let out animal-like noises.

Some of the students began to panic, standing and stumbling towards the doors of the halls. Others just gazed around. A few had smiles on their faces, as they tried out the new noises coming from their mouths.

"Calm down." Dumbledore's voice boomed out across the hall, and the standing students stopped, turning to look at him. His eyes glanced, briefly, to the four Gryffindor boys, and they swore he smiled at them. But the smile quickly disappeared. "If this is what I believe it is…" He turned to Slughorn, leant into him and asked something. Slughorn nodded. His eyes were wide, staring in disbelief at the hall. McGonagall and a few of the other teachers were trying to hide giggles behind their hands. "The effects will last half an hour. Perhaps forty five minutes at most. Although I gather it will be…unfortunate for you if you are unable to catch up with your friends, I ask that you return to your seats and finish dinner. If, after an hour, you are still suffering from the effects of this, then please go to the hospital wing."

The students returned to their seats, looking embarrassed. James did a quick thumbs up to Remus, as everyone continued eating, the sounds making almost every student feel like they were in a zoo.

**A/N: A massive thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed or added this story to their favourites. It really means a lot to me. Your support keeps me writing. As always, I love to hear your thoughts; just drop me a review. Thanks, again.**


	18. Chapter 18

Rumours about who had created the potion spread quickly around the school. Their names weren't mentioned. Not seriously. The general theory seemed to be that, as it was a fourth year potion, the youngest person who could have pulled it off must have been an advanced third year or older.

"How many times can we tell you you're a genius before you get fed up?" James whispered, as they walked down the hallway to their History of Magic class.

Remus grinned. "Maybe a few more times."

Sirius clapped him on the back. "You, Remus, are a genius."

Remus laughed, as Peter nodded eagerly.

"We should focus on the Animagus thing," James continued. "At least until Christmas. We can do another prank in the New Year."

"Something to welcome everyone back?" Sirius said. James nodded.

"Of course."

They entered the classroom, heading to the back and withdrawing the necessary equipment. Unlike other classes, for History of Magic all they needed was textbook, parchment and quill. Not that James and Sirius ever used those things during the class. They always said they had more important things to focus on, and, anyway, they could always rely on Remus' notes to get them through.

Professor Binns floated through the board, and many of the students began doing something else. Doodling, reading for another class, swapping notes. Only a few – Lily and Remus among them – paid any attention to the ghost.

Binns turned to the board and wrote, in large letters, _MERLIN_.

"Merlin was one of the greatest wizards in our history," Professor Binns began. "He aided the non-magical King Arthur in bringing unity to Britain. He was very skilled, even among our modern standards and many of the spells and potions we use today are derived from what he created."

As Binns continued, Remus made his notes. He didn't really mind James, Sirius and Peter copying. Peter, at least, tried to make his own notes, but they were often incomplete. Remus found their history fascinating, anyway.

"It is believed that Merlin created the charm that is mentioned in Muggle legend," Binns continued. "This charm enabled King Arthur and his most loyal knights to remain alive, though asleep, beneath a tree in the Welsh countryside."

Remus jotted down the words, along with a note on the side. _Muggle Legends – Arthur, tree._

Binns continued, going through Merlin's childhood, his life with the Muggle King, and ending on the death of Merlin.

"The wizard left such a lasting impression on the population that, even today, we cite his name in moments of joy or sorrow…"

The class finished, and they trailed out.

"So, what did we learn today?" James asked. "Goblin Rebellions? The formation of Gringotts? More dates that will not affect us?"

"Merlin," Remus replied.

"All right, Remus," Sirius said. "No need to be so surprised. You know we don't pay any attention to Binns."

"No, we did Merlin."

Peter nodded. "Yeah! All about him and King Arthur."

"What?" James gaped at them. "We were doing Merlin and neither of you bothered to tell us to pay attention?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "When has that ever made you pay attention?"

James seemed to think about it for a moment, before he shrugged and began whistling, as they made their way to the Great Hall for lunch.

They, along with the rest of the school, carried on with their normal routines for the last few weeks of school. Between classes, the four friends read up on Animagi, practised their spells and did their homework. All four planned to stay over Christmas.

The term drew to a close, and the homework eased off. Remus, of course, got started early on the work due in after the New Year, while the others focused their energies on their extracurricular activities. James and Sirius practiced on the Quidditch pitch when they had a chance, and continued exploring the castle, etching out routes and any hidden tunnels they found for Remus to add to the map.

When they woke up the first day of the holiday, the castle was almost empty.

Most had left early that morning, to join their families for Christmas. The four friends made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast, where all the tables had only a few students on them. Most of the teachers were absent, although a couple were happily eating and chatting to each other.

"It's eerie, isn't it?" James muttered, as they took their seats at the Gryffindor table. "I mean, it's so quiet."

The other three nodded their agreement, before diving into the food appearing on the plates.

No more had been said about the potion a few weeks prior, and none of the houses had lost any points. Still, there were some students who still discussed it, who still debated who could have pulled off such an epic prank.

"Don't forget, Slughorn's party is tonight," Remus said, gaze falling on James. "And you have to come."

James groaned, rolling his eyes. "Do we really? The people in his little club are so…so…up themselves."

"Half of them think they're amazing just because they come from purebred families," Sirius muttered, jamming his fork into his sausage. "Like it makes them better than everyone else."

"You didn't have to say yes."

Remus turned to James. "If I hadn't said yes, Slughorn would probably have turned down my request to get ingredients. We wouldn't have had a potion and you wouldn't have had your prank." He had lowered his voice, despite the fact that there was hardly anyone near enough to hear him.

James let out a long, drawn out sigh. "All right. Fine. We'll go."

"What? I never agreed to that."

"You're coming, Sirius. End of. If me and Remus have to, then you do, too. And, besides, now we know how useful it is to keep on Slughorn's good side." He grinned, winked at Remus and bit into his slice of toast.

X X X

Sirius brushed down his dress robes as he stared at himself in the mirror. "I can't believe these are the only ones I have," he muttered. The robes were black, with silver and green trim. "Seriously. Look at them. They're Slytherin colours."

Remus stood just behind him, arms crossed. His own robes were a deep blue colour that, his mother said, brought out his eyes. James wore dark red, with gold at the trim.

"Well, your family are all Slytherin," James commented.

Sirius let out a hefty sigh.

Remus rolled his eyes before heading to his bedside cabinet. He reached in, pulled out a book and started flicking through it, his tongue poking out.

"I know it's in here somewhere…"

"What are you looking for?" Sirius turned around, and James bounded forward to stare into the mirror as he combed his hair. Peter had settled himself in front of the fire in the Common Room, reading some book Remus had lent him.

"You'll see. Ah! Here we are."

He grinned, crossed towards Sirius and pointed his wand at the robes. He muttered the spell, and two streams came out of his wand, one gold and one red. They wrapped around the trim of Sirius' dress robes, and seemed to absorb the silver and green, replacing the colours with those that had come from the wand.

"There. Better?"

Sirius turned back to the mirror and grinned. "Well hello, you handsome devil."

"Remus, did you just cast a spell to inflate Sirius' head?" James muttered, still focusing on his hair. Remus laughed, and the three finished getting ready.

They headed to the room Professor Slughorn had booked for the party.

"You don't think Peter minds, do you?" Sirius asked. "I mean, that we were invited and he wasn't."

"I don't think so," Remus answered. "I mean…he knows none of us want to go. It's just going to be standing around and listening to everyone boast about why they're in the Club." He shrugged. "Nothing to really be excited for, is it?"

They reached the room.

As soon as they stepped inside, they were amazed. Snow fell from the ceiling, and icicles dangled on the edges of the room. A buffet had been laid out against one wall, with a variety of different food available. A few of the teachers were present, and they floated around, talking to the other students present. The walls were white, made to look like ice, and Sirius reached out, putting his palm flat against it.

"It's warm," he said, surprised.

"Ah! Misters Lupin, Potter and Black!"

The three turned to the voice, facing Professor Slughorn. He smiled, before shaking each of their hands in turn.

"So very glad you could make it. So very, very glad. And congratulations on being the youngest students here this year."

They glanced around. Most of the others were fifth years and above, though there were a few third and fourth years present, too. Sirius cringed on spotting Lucius Malfoy and his cousin Narcissa, along with her sister Bella. James smiled and waved at Gerard Floss, standing with the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain. There were a few other players there, from various houses, but Sirius had been right.

Most of those at the party were from pureblood families.

"Go, mingle!" Slughorn urged, gently pushing the boys further into the room. "Enjoy yourselves!"

The boys smiled weakly, glancing around the room as they decided where to go first. James shrugged, before nodding his head to the buffet table. Sirius grinned, and soon they were filling their plates up with all sorts of food.

"This looks great," James muttered, picking up a triangle samosa. He bit into it, waited a few seconds, and grabbed a few more. "Yep. Great."

They moved off to the side of the room as they ate, glancing around. Eventually, a girl and boy from the year above approached them. The girl wore a simple dress that flowed past her knees, dark blue. The boy's dress robes, like Sirius', were black, but the trim on them was yellow.

The girl held her hand out to Remus.

"Rebecca Howell. You're Remus Lupin, right?"

"Err, yeah." He shook it, glancing at James and Sirius for support. The other boy hung back, looking more than just a bit awkward. The girl nodded curtly.

"And this must be James Potter and Sirius Black."

She shook their hands in turn, before gesturing to her friend to step forward.

"This is Matthew, my twin brother." She flashed a wide smile. "We've very unusual. Muggle parents, with two children who both have magical abilities." She seemed very proud of that fact, though her brother didn't seem bothered by it. "We have both been in the top five per cent of our year since we started here."

"Remus is the top in our year," James said, tilting his chin back just a bit.

"I know," she drawled, staring at him. Her smile had disappeared but when she turned to Remus, it returned. "Us Ravenclaws have formed our own club. Much more…prestigious than this one." She rolled her eyes, as if 'this one' was highly beneath her. "The top five per cent of every year, no matter what house they're in." She reached into her purse, and took out a small card, handing it to Remus. "We would be honoured if you join us. Come on, Matthew." She turned, walking off with her brother trailing behind. He shrugged at the boys, as his sister led him to some of the other students.

"Looks like Remus has made some new friends," Sirius commented, staring hard at Rebecca. "What do you think, Remus? You going to join their little swot club?"

Remus shrugged, glancing down at the card. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Sirius gasped. "Remus! How could you even think of joining it?"

"Well," a light blush appeared on his face, "it might be good for me."

"How so?" James asked, thoughtfully. Sirius turned his gaping face on James.

"Well, they might…you know, discuss things I don't know." Remus shrugged. "I could learn things; learn about stuff we won't know for a few years. And it could actually be a good way to make some connections. You know, for later."

James nodded slowly.

"What? Remus, they're going to be just as bad as the pure blood kids! You…you...you…"

"He has a point," James said, a firm tone in his voice. "Come on, Sirius, let him have this. We have Quidditch."

"And he has Peter! What will Peter do, huh? Huh? While we're off practicing and Remus is with his little club…"

"So you've received an invitation too, have you, Lupin?"

The three boys whirled around to see Severus Snape standing near them, a sneer on his face.

"And I assume, from your conversation, neither Potter nor Black made the top five."

"Even if I had," Sirius spat, "I wouldn't want to join."

"But there's so much for you to learn, Black." His eyes fell on Remus. "If you decide to attend, Lupin, I will put aside the actions of your friends for as long as we are in the club. I will treat you with the same respect that everyone in that club deserves." He glared at Sirius and James, before half turning and stalking off.

James was frowning. "That was…not like Snape."

"What, the whole polite, respect thing?"

James shook his head. "No. When has he ever confronted us, like that?" James leant against the wall, crossing his arms. "He seems very…confident."

Sirius shrugged. "Maybe him and Lily got together." He shuddered. "Though I'd like to think more of her than that."

"Don't say things like that," James snapped, his face flushing red. "Evans is a pain, but she's better than that slime ball."

Remus glanced around. Snape was talking to Rebecca and her brother, and Slughorn was very animatingly engaged in conversation with a group of older students.

"No one will miss us if we slip out," he muttered. "I'm feeling tired anyway. We should go." He was silently pleading with the other two, knowing that if they stayed, either Snape would goad them or they would goad him. Either way, it couldn't end well and they'd all end up losing points.

"Yeah," Sirius muttered, nodding his head. "This is boring. Let's head back to the Common Room."

James agreed and, together, the three boys slipped out, Remus still clutching the invitation.


	19. Chapter 19

From the window, he could see James swooping through the air, flying through the flecks of snow that had been coming down hard. Sirius rose up, joining him in the air, and Remus ducked away from the window. He glanced down at the invitation in his hand. Peter was in the Common Room, happily accepting Remus' excuse that he needed to go to the library.

He told him he'd be a while.

He wondered if the other two would come looking for him, checking up on him. Taking a deep breath, Remus glanced down the corridor, back the way he had come. It wasn't too late.

Instead, he spun around and headed towards the steps that would lead him to the fourth floor. It wasn't James' reaction he worried about. It was Sirius.

He'd barely spoken to Remus since the night of Slughorn's party.

It wasn't long before he was standing outside the Charms classroom, the room written on the parchment in his hand. He lifted a hand and knocked.

The door swung open, and Matthew Howell stared down at him. The older boy's face broke into a smile. "You decided to come." He stepped back, and Remus moved in. The tables had been pushed to the edges of the room, the chairs arranged in a circle. Rebecca waved, and Matthew moved past Remus, taking the seat next to his sister. Snape and Lily sat side by side, with two Ravenclaws from their year sitting on Lily's side. Most people seemed to be sticking to those in the same year as them, and the only spare seat was by Snape.

Remus took it, glancing around. Mainly Ravenclaws, with Slytherins coming in second for most people present. There were a few Gryffindors, not many, and three Hufflepuff students.

Lily smiled at him.

"Welcome," Rebecca said, eyes darting around them all. In her hands, she held a thick leather bound book. "So, we have our newest students, who had remained in the top of their classes for the last year." She gestured to the second years.

"You don't accept first years?" Remus asked, and Rebecca shook her head.

"The first part of first year…the statistics can be a little flaky. Students who have grown up in magical houses tend to shoot to the top for the first half. They know the basics, and those of us that are Muggle-born are have to learn them. Once it gets to January, that's when you see the truly intelligent students rise up." Her eyes fell on Lily, and she smiled, causing the red head to blush.

Matthew cleared his throat, and Rebecca gestured to her brother.

"Those of you that have been here before know the rules. You drop out of the top five, and you get exactly twenty-eight days to climb back in. Otherwise you're out, and we remain a member short until someone new has remained in the top for another twenty-eight days. If you need help with homework or anything extra-curricular, you are encouraged to ask one of us. Around exam time, we organise study sessions, between all of us. Sharing knowledge of specialist subjects and passing on our experiences to those younger than us."

Remus found his smile growing larger by the second.

"After Christmas, we have fortnightly meetings. You're welcome to bring up anything you find interesting in these, any new discoveries or just fascinating facts you may have dug out in the library." He glanced around the room, but his gaze lingered on the second years, clearly checking if they were following. "If there's anything you wish to…experiment, you can do that with us. If needed, we'll organise extra meetings to accommodate anything you wish to do. This club is about building our minds, expanding intellectually and ensuring you all have connections when you leave Hogwarts."

Matthew rolled his shoulders back, crossed his arms and exhaled slowly.

"Rebecca?"

She smiled at her brother, before turning to look at the rest of them.

"So, that about sums us up. We're here to help each other, even if we are in separate houses. The moment these meetings begin, it doesn't matter what house you're in. It doesn't matter if you are Muggle-born or from a long line of wizards. What does matter is that we strive to be the best we can be. Now, let's introduce ourselves. Rebecca Howell, third year. Chosen to head up our small group by those who left last year."

"Matthew Howell. Third year. Her twin brother. Top of my year for Charms." He grinned.

They moved around the circle, the students introducing each other. Some mentioned their strongest class, one of the Sixth Years mentioned how he had come top in his year for his OWLs. The other sixth years rolled their eyes at this, like they'd heard it before.

When everyone had been introduced, Rebecca told them to mingle. The chairs were pushed away and the students started walking, talking to others and introducing themselves on a more personal level. Remus made his way towards Rebecca.

"Hey," she said, smiling. "How can I help you, Remus?"

"How come you got the role?" he asked, seeing no point in beating around the bush. "I mean, you're third year and most of them are older, so…"

She laughed. "Good question."

Matthew beamed at him. "You know she's going to brag now, right?"

"When the person in this position is about to graduate, they pick someone to take over. It's usually a Ravenclaw, because it was the Ravenclaws who started the group. And they tend to go for someone in their fourth year, because they'll be around longer and would have been here for two years already."

"But she was just so great…" Matthew drawled.

Rebecca cleared her throat. "It's rare they pick a third year, but it happens. Gareth, who left last year, said he picked me because of my excellent organisational skills. He said if anyone could sort out the small details, it was me."

Remus nodded, slowly, taking it all in. He glanced around the room. "So no one present will actually get to lead?"

"Nope." She shook her head. "Unless, of course, I fall from the top five or something else happens that makes me incapable. In which case, those who want it will put themselves forward, and it goes to a vote."

"Think about it this way," Matthew said. "We're not divided by people constantly trying to be the leader. And Rebecca acts more of a moderator than anything else; she keeps things running smoothly, makes sure we have somewhere to meet and gets in touch with everyone. She's not there to demand we do certain things. And you guys don't spend time competing with each other to take over. In the few cases where things have gone to a vote, they've gone smoothly. And it means you get used to the same person in that role for your time here, rather than it chopping and changing."

Remus nodded. "Makes sense. Couldn't help but wonder." He shrugged.

"Ask as many questions as you want, Remus." She reached out, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing gently. "Only those that ask will expand their mind."

One of the other second years approached, asking Matthew about Potions, after admitting it was perhaps her weakest subject. Remus dipped his head in thanks to the twins, and made his way to a group currently discussing the finer points of Transfiguration.

X X X 

James fell into the armchair as soon as he reached the Common Room, his hair and face dripping with sweat. Sirius looked just as bad, but both were smiling.

"Where's Remus?" James asked, wiping the back of his hand across his forehead.

"Went to the library," Peter replied, glancing up from the book he had been reading. "Said he wanted to try to get something sorted with the map."

Sirius lowered himself into a chair, wincing as he did so. "Merlin, I'm aching."

James laughed. "Tell me about it."

They settled into the chairs, both just staring at the fire as they waited for the pain to recede. James was dozing by the time Remus returned, but he jerked away when Sirius stated he was back.

Remus stepped into the Common Room with Lily, both smiling and laughing as they said goodbye, Lily going to join some of the girls down the other end of the room, while Remus headed for them.

"Hey." James nodded. "Did you get your problem with the map sorted?"

Remus stared blankly at him, before dawning appeared on his face and he nodded, a little too eagerly. "Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's fine." He fell into the remaining armchair. "Map's going great. Just a few little things to tweak."

Sirius grinned. "That's great. Anything we can do?"

Remus leant back, sinking into the chair and letting out a contended sigh. "Actually, yeah, there is. Listen." He glanced around at the three of them, waiting for Peter to fold over the corner of his page and put his book on the table. When all three boys were focusing on him, he continued. "I've managed to get parts of the castle mapped out, but not many. I've sort of been focusing more on the full extent of what it can do, rather than just a map. Do you think you three could maybe, well, explore a bit? Map out the castle so we can add it on?"

"Yeah, sure." James was grinning. "We'll go out with the cloak, see what we can find. Reckon we can dig up some pretty good hidden tunnels, too."

Remus nodded. "Yeah. Anything you find we can add. If there are hidden entrances, there might be a spell we can use, to check where they are."

They fell into discussion about the map, throwing out ideas and suggestions, working out the best way to go forward with it, until exhaustion rose up in all of them and they headed for bed.

X X X 

On Christmas Eve, James leant Sirius and Peter the cloak. He joined Remus in the Common Room, where Remus was currently reading a new book he had got from the library. Once he knew the others were gone, James lowered himself into the armchair opposite Remus, and leant forward.

Remus looked over the top of the book. "Can I help you, James?"

"You weren't at the library the other night, were you?"

Remus' face flushed red, and his eyes dipped back down to the book. "Of course I was."

"Remus, it's okay. I'm not going to be annoyed you went to that meeting thing."

Slowly, he lifted his gaze to meet James'. "How did you know?"

"I heard Lily talking about it to Alice." James shrugged. "Did you have a good time?"

He nodded. "Yeah. It was…fascinating. And I did really like the idea of it. They help each other out."

"Good. Sounds cool. But you need to tell Sirius."

Remus groaned.

"Look, Remus, we shouldn't have secrets between us. We're best friends, right? All four of us. And you can't keep hiding something like this from him. You can't keep coming up with excuses about where you're going to be." He leant forward, lowering his voice. "I mean, didn't you get fed up of that, before?"

"Yeah, I suppose." He sighed. "He was just so…so against the idea."

"He just doesn't like the idea of you making friends you think are better than us," James replied, casually.

"What? That's ridiculous! No one could be better than you guys."

"I know. But you need to explain that to Sirius. You need to tell him that you're not going to stop hanging out with us because you've found a group of intelligent students. He just…he's just scared, Remus."

"Scared of what?" Remus frowned. "You're my friends. You know my…my secret."

James grinned. "Your furry problem?"

Remus shook his head. "Well, yeah. And you've been there for me since the beginning. I like the people I met last night but…but they wouldn't look twice at me if I wasn't in the top of our year."

"As long as you're happy, I'm happy," James said. "And Sirius will be, too, once he comes around to the idea."

"Do you think he will?"

"He has to, Remus. It might take a while, but he'll realise that. Don't worry about it. It'll work itself out. It always does."

**A/N: As always, love to know what you think. Like it, hate it, anything in particular you want to point out. Just let me know in the reviews. Thanks for reading.**


	20. Chapter 20

Sirius was not in a happy mood. Once Remus had told him where he'd really been, Sirius spluttered and gaped, struggling to get any words out. Eventually, he stormed off to bed. Peter stood looking awkwardly at the stairs to the dorm, before turning to James and Remus and joining them by the fire.

"So what's this club?" he asked, fixing his gaze on Remus.

"It's for the top five per cent of every year," Remus explained. "We swap ideas and talk about stuff. After Christmas, there's going to be a meeting every two weeks. And if I'm stuck on anything, I can ask them about it."

James scoffed. "Like our Remus will ever be stuck on anything."

"So why is Sirius not happy about it?" Peter asked, frowning as he glanced from one boy to the other. "I mean…it sounds like the perfect thing for Remus."

"Exactly," James said. "It's a good thing for our furry friend. Sirius will see that, eventually."

The conversation turned to other things, and slowly those around them started heading for bed. The three boys went up, excitedly chatting about Christmas and looking forward to the following morning. James was eager to get to sleep, just so he could wake up and open his presents. Peter was looking forward to the food. They climbed into their respective beds and called out goodnights to each other.

Remus listened as their snores began, and waited before reaching into his nightstand and pulling out the small, wrapped present.

_To Sirius._

He turned it over in his hand, hoping that, in the spirit of Christmas, Sirius would come around sooner rather than later.

X X X

The snow was piled high outside the castle when the students woke Christmas morning. The house elves had ensured the presents that had arrived were at the beds of their recipients, and all across the castle, excited teenagers ripped open the wrapping and marvelled at what they had received.

Remus grinned at the collection of books his parents had sent him. It was a series, the stories of one Auror's fight against the darkness. He made a mental note to lend it to James when he had finished. Marcus Galois had sent him a letter, telling him there was a surprise waiting in the Owlery for him.

Judging from how your last letter was delivered, I didn't think you had one yet. And Gabrielle has checked with Professor Dumbledore. He doesn't have a name yet, but will respond to whatever you call him.

Remus grinned to himself, before opening up his next present. A box of Chocolate Frogs, from Peter. He grinned to himself, as he heard the curtains on the other beds being yanked apart.

"Christmas!" James yelled, glancing up and down. "Remus! You're awake! You open my present yet?"

He picked up the last but one present, wondering what James would have got him. James climbed off his bed and walked over to him, as Peter opened his curtains and stared out, blinking and yawning.

"I hope it's okay. I just figured you had nothing to do when you were…" He gestured to the window, as Remus tore of the packaging. He found himself laughing, holding the plush, fluffy wolf in his hand. "Squeeze it!" James said with a grin. Remus did so, and it squeaked. "It's been reinforced by magic. I mentioned to Mum and Dad you had a pet dog and they found this is Diagon Alley." Remus glanced up, watching as James ran a hand through his hair. "You won't be able to tear it apart."

Remus got to his knees, leaning forward and hugging James tightly, glad the other boys in the dorm had gone home for Christmas.

"It's great. Thanks."

The last present was from Sirius. Remus held it in his hands before opening it, smiling at the all too familiar feel and weight of a book. James returned to his bed, opening the rest of his presents, as Remus tore off the wrapping and stared at the book.

Howling At The Moon: The True Lives of Werewolves.

He flicked open the book. All of it contained the accounts from different werewolves, all written anonymously and edited by an author renowned in the wizarding world for his insights into dark creatures. He glanced at, eyeing Sirius' bed. From behind the closed curtains, he could hear Sirius opening his own presents.

Finally, they were done. Sirius emerged, holding the small box that had contained Remus' present. Remus glanced up and met his eyes.

"Thanks," Sirius said, holding up the box. "It's great, Remus."

Remus had managed, with a little help from his parents and their mail order catalogues, to find pendants for all of them. Sirius' had the constellation he was named after on it. James' had a Quidditch broom, and Peter's contained a small Gryffindor lion, bravery written underneath it.

"These are awesome," James said, holding his pendent up before putting it on. "Thanks, Remus."

"No problem."

They sat around, admiring each other's presents. James had received a new pair of Quidditch gloves from his parents, packets of Every Flavour Beans from Peter, and a Wizarding Chess board, complete with pieces, from Sirius. Peter's parents had got him some books, Sirius had given him a pair of Exploding Snap cards, and from James, he got an album from some Muggle band called The Beatles.

"Wow! Thanks, James."

"No worries."

"How did you…"

"You mentioned them before," he explained. "A while back. I had to ask Evans about it." He shrugged, though the others could see how much he had hated asking Lily for help with something.

Sirius had been given a copy of his family tree by his parents, with remember who you are written at the bottom of the parchment. He ripped it up, throwing it out the window. From Peter, he had a box of Chocolate Frogs, and suggested that he and Remus sort out the cards and swap any that needed swapping, as soon as possible. James had given him a book of simple Muggle pranks.

The four boys happily headed to the Common Room, both Remus and Sirius munching on a frog each. The Common Room was empty, but from various corners of the tower they could hear laughter. They grabbed the seats by the fireplace, James setting up his chess board. Remus joined him for a game, while Sirius and Peter began playing Exploding Snap.

"Do you think there's some way we can charm these?" James asked, lightly touching the pendent hanging from his neck. "I mean, so we can use them to keep in touch."

"Maybe," Remus muttered, staring at the board as James made his first move. "I've heard of spells to do that sort of thing, but it might be a little too advanced at the moment."

"Nothing is too advanced for you," Sirius said, before crying, "Snap!" and slamming his hand down onto the table.

"We could make our pranks bigger," James mused. "If we could keep in touch across the tower."

"I'll look into it," Remus promised. "When I have time. I'd prefer to focus on the map, for the time being."

James nodded eagerly. "Yeah. Getting that done first sounds like a good idea."

"Maybe you should ask your new friends," Sirius muttered, seconds before the cards on the table exploded, making him and Peter jump.

Remus glanced at James, who just shrugged. He decided to ignore the comment. If it helped work out whatever anger Sirius had towards Remus, it was fine.

People drifted into the Common Room, with none of the usual sleepiness they carried most mornings. Instead, everyone was grinning, looking happy as they settled into the chairs and began talking, waiting for breakfast. A few headed to the Great Hall early, eager to see friends from other houses and wish them a Merry Christmas. Lily and Alice bounded into the Common Room, Alice laughing at something.

Peter, Sirius and James couldn't hide their surprise as the two girls headed towards them. Remus, on the other hand, stood, smiling and wishing them both a happy Christmas. Lily hugged him, before taking something from her pocket and holding it out to him.

"Here, Happy Christmas."

"Thanks." He reached into his own pocket with a grin, passing her something. Alice hung back, watching as Lily and Remus unwrapped their presents and gushed with thanks and oh, you shouldn't have.

Lily had given Remus a pair of cufflinks. Lions. In return, Remus had given her a simple necklace, the chain thin and silver, with a small owl on the end. The owl fluttered as Lily lifted the necklace up, and she giggled.

"It doesn't do it often," Remus explained. "It reacts to your body temperature. It'll get used to your normal temperature once you put it on. It's useful for seeing when it raises."

Lily grinned and hugged him.

"Where's my present, Evans?" James asked, sitting up straight and grinning at her. She rolled her eyes.

"Now why would I get you a present, Potter?"

"Why would you get Remus one?"

"Because he's my friend," she snapped, before turning and walking to the other side of the Common Room, as far away from James as she could get. Alice smiled, shrugged and turned, following her friend.

Remus sat back down, lifting the cufflinks out of the box and holding them in the palm of his hand.

"Remus," Peter said, frowning. "You don't have a pendent."

Sirius and James stared at Peter, questioning looks on their faces.

"Well," he continued. "If we're going to use them to keep in touch, how will Remus do it?"

"Sometimes, Peter," James said. "You are a genius." He turned to Remus. "Well?"

"We'll think of something, I'm sure."

X X X

Most students headed outside after breakfast. Some engaged in snowball fights, laughing and cursing as they leapt through the snow, some forming small teams and building snow walls to protect themselves from attack. Others built snowmen, some of the girls made snow angels.

Less than half the school had stayed behind, and house divides along with year differences were forgotten in the snow. James ducked, avoiding a snowball thrown by a Ravenclaw, and found himself diving behind a wall, joining a Slytherin fourth year, panting, with snow dripping through his hair.

They glanced at each other, a silent moment of understanding passing between them, before both began forming snowballs. From the other side of the wall, they could hear squeaks and squeals. Once they had a few number of snowballs each, they grabbed them and rose, throwing them hard at the students they could see.

One of James' hit Lily Evans, currently building a snowman with a few of the other girls. He held his hands up to hide his laughter as she whirled around, eyes flashing as they locked on him.

"I'll get you for that, Potter!"

She was smiling as she grabbed a handful of snow and patted it together quickly, before lobbing it at him.

For some reason, he couldn't move. He was just staring at Lily, hardly able to believe that smile was being directed at him. And it was a nice smile, full of warmth, nothing like the cold looks he was used to getting from her.

The snowball hit, smacking him right in the middle of his face. He stepped back and slipped on an icy patch, going down hard.

"James!" Lily screeched, and the shouts around her stopped suddenly. James blinked, wiped the snow from his face and found himself staring up at a crowd. Sirius was on one side, Lily standing beside Remus on the other. They all stared down at him.

He grinned, and Lily visibly relaxed as Sirius and Remus held out their hands to help him up.

"Good shot, Evans," he said, shrugging off the snow on his shoulders. "You know, for a girl."

The relief in her face disappeared, replaced quickly by the anger he was all too used to. She glared at him, and he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. It was normal, and normal was good.

"Should have thrown it harder," she said, before turning and stamping her way back to Alice. Remus glanced at him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." He ran a hand through his hair, feeling how wet it was. "I'm…" Before he could finish the sentence, a snowball splattered against Sirius' back.

The game was back on.

The students continued to play until it was lunchtime, when they trudged into the hall, all of them receiving angry glares from Filch, the caretaker. Lines of melted snow followed them into the Great Hall, laughter echoing off the walls as they sat down to eat.

The teachers ate while talking to each other, eyes flickering towards the students every so often to ensure they were behaving themselves. McGonagall was looking better every day. The pale look she had carried was gone, and she seemed to be putting on a bit of weight. She smiled at Professor Harpo as the two spoke.

Dumbledore was leaning towards Professor Slughorn, nodding his head slowly at whatever the potions master was saying. Every so often, they would both pause, looking serious for a few seconds before continuing.

Despite the air of joy hanging around the Great Hall, despite the smiles on the faces of the professors, there was still a tension hanging over their table. Remus could feel it, as keenly as he could smell the turkey and potatoes and vegetables. As keenly as he could hear the echoes and whispers bouncing around the halls.

The wolf side of his senses were building, as they approached the full moon. It would hit a few days after the New Year, just before classes started back. For that, he was glad. At least he wouldn't miss anything.

He hadn't mentioned it to his friends, but his parents had wanted him home for Christmas. They had wanted to have him home, and they seemed more eager about it than they had last year.

Something was going on outside the castle walls, something was building, and only a few, it seemed, were aware of it. He and his fellow students were oblivious, for the most part, but the wolf knew. The wolf could feel it. And the fact that it seemed to be trying to scream something at him as the days raced towards the moon worried Remus.

X X X

The festive cheer was still heavy in the air the following morning. The students knew they could look forward to cold meat sandwiches, stew and bubble and squeak. They had the whole day to relish in their new presents, to relax, before they had to focus on homework ready for the term to start in January.

Like Christmas Day itself, many of the students bundled themselves up and headed outside. But the unity of the day before was gone. Ravenclaws headed to the iced over lake to sit on its shore, the Hufflepuffs headed for the space around the greenhouses to build snowmen and the Slytherins stomped around in small groups, throwing glares and sneers at the Muggle-born students.

Some of the Gryffindors got another snowball fight going, but even within the houses there wasn't the same sense of togetherness. Instead, after only a couple of hits, many of the Gryffindors walked away, the joy gone for now.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter headed to the Quidditch Pitch, when it was clear the snowball fight was falling apart. Remus and Peter sat in the stands, Remus reading over some books as he tried to find out more about animagus, while Peter watched Sirius and James head to the skies, awe painted on his face.

"I wish I could fly like they do."

"I don't," Remus replied, shuddering. "Wolves weren't meant to fly."

Peter glanced at him. "Remus?"

"Yeah?"

"How much control do you have, over the wolf?" His voice was quiet, almost as if he was scared of asking.

"During the full moon, or the rest of the time?" he muttered, perhaps a little too darkly. Peter frowned.

"The rest of the time?"

With a sigh, Remus closed his book and put it on the seat beside him. "There's nothing to be scared of, Peter."

"I'm not scared," he replied. "Just…interested."

"It's like…" He tried to think of something to link it to, something that would help his friend understand. His mind came up blank. "The wolf is like a constant presence, at the back of my head. It's almost always there. I didn't notice it before, because I've been used to it for so long, but talking to Mr Galois…he's explained things to me, told me how the wolf can change you."

A look of pity crossed Peter's face.

"Not hugely. But I don't know how different I might have been if I hadn't been attacked."

Peter nodded, slow and carefully, as if to emphasise that he understood.

"But it gives me better senses, and a keener instinct." He grinned. "Apparently, I can hear things you probably can't. But I've been so used to hearing owls and birds far off that I've grown used to it."

"That's cool." Peter smiled back.

"When the moon isn't full, I can control it." He shrugged. "But…"

"You get more tense closer to the moon," Peter said. "I've noticed, Remus. You get…more restless. And you snap more."

Remus blinked at him. "Do I?"

"Yeah. Last year, we just thought it was because you had to go home to see your sick grandmother. We thought you were upset. But it's the wolf, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's the wolf."

"So, when you change…"

"I can't control it," he explained. "Otherwise, I'd take you three with me. But truth is, I have no idea if I'd be able to stop hurting you or not."

Peter nodded again, thinking it over. He glanced at the sky. "Do you think James' animagus will be a bird?"

Remus laughed, turning his gaze to stare at the two flyers. "Mammals are much more common."

"Oh. In that case, I'd like to be…" He thought it over for a moment. "A lion would be amazing, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah. That would be cool."

"Hey, Remus?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are there only werewolves?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, why aren't there, like, were-lions? Or were-bears or leopards or…or…or a were-dog!"

Remus laughed. "I have no idea, Peter."

They settled back in their seats, watching James and Sirius in the sky, as Remus pondered over Peter's question. It was an interesting though, and he made a mental note to look into it when he had the chance.


	21. Chapter 21

Peter was curled up on the armchair near the fire, homework sitting on the table forgotten as he read the chapter Remus told him he would be interested in.

It was a book of history, but based not on solid evidence but stories. Tales that had been passed down verbally from one generation to another, until the period between two wars when a wizard travelled the world and took the stories from those who lived remotely, from places where verbal storytelling was still alive and strong, and had written it all down.

The first part of the book covered ancient civilisations, musings and myths on gods and heroes. The part Remus had pointed out to him was more concerned with animals of magical origin, of dark and light creatures.

The myth of the werewolf was in there, mixed in with some facts known at the time. But alongside this were stories of others, as well as sketches depicting what these others may have looked like.

_It is not known if there were other animals, beside werewolves, which were limited to the time of the moon. Some experts believe these stories came from early day Animagi, while the tales tell a different story. There are tales of were-lions in Africa, were-bears in America and other were-mammals. Stories of large lions prowling around villages late at night, that had the strange half-man, half-animal appearance that are common to were-wolf sightings. However, these animals do not seem to have been spotted since the end of the last century._

_There remains a question on what happened to them. It is possible they drew themselves away from human eyes and hide in remote places as of yet untouched by humans. Others believe they died out, that they made a choice not to bite and create others or that they bred together, and bred themselves out of extinction._

There followed stories of sightings, lengthy descriptions of what people had seen when witnessing these half-men, half-animals.

"Answer your question?" Remus asked, glancing up. Peter nodded.

"Yeah. They might still be out there."

"What might be?" James muttered, eyes focused on his homework.

"Other were-animals," Remus said, gesturing to the book. He explained what he had already read. James listened, returning to his work as soon as Remus was finished.

"Cool."

They returned to their individual activities. There wasn't long before they went back to classes, and all four of them had work that needed to be done. Remus wanted to get his out of the way before the full moon.

He was only really beginning to notice the smaller things about himself, the things he had always thought were normal and things he thought he shared with everyone. But, clearly, that wasn't the case. It was mainly through his letters to and from the other werewolf that he was learning more, as the older man gently explained certain aspects Remus found fascinating and terrifying.

He had been encouraged to pay more attention to himself, to notice what he craved in the days surrounding the moon and his overall attitude towards that time. James had asked him for help and Remus had snapped at him to do it himself. He had eaten a whole steak the day before, not realising until he finished how much he enjoyed red meat at that time of the month. His dreams got worse and his sleep suffered. Headaches, though not major, were frequent.

Marcus had told him some of it was just simply the wolf. The meat, the restless, the strange bouts of energy. Some of it, he explained, was as a result of him trying to fight his inner wolf too hard. The headaches, for example.

_You have to learn to completely accept yourself, Remus_.

He stood, stretching. The others turned to him.

"Where you going?" Sirius asked.

"A walk. Maybe a run."

"Want some company?"

"Sure."

James and Peter both waved off their offers to join them, and the pair made their way out of the tower and into the grounds of the castle. The snow was melting all around, outside of the path around the castle and leading towards the greenhouses that had been kept clear by magic.

Hagrid was working out by the forest, and the pair could just about make out his large form as they stepped out.

They began to walk along the wall of the castle, Sirius with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Remus didn't feel cold. Instead, his blood was running hot and he knew if anyone were to touch him, they'd feel the heat radiating off his skin. Sirius was wearing a thick, fur-lined cloak. Remus just wore his normal robes over jeans and a t-shirt.

"Full moon soon, huh?" Sirius asked.

Remus nodded.

"Aren't you cold?"

Remus held his hand out, and Sirius lightly touched the back of it.

"All right. Not cold. Got it."

Remus grinned, tilting his head to one side to stretch out his neck. "Give it a week and I'll be as freezing as you guys."

"Doesn't it get uncomfortable?"

He shrugged. "I'm used to it."

They turned corner of the castle, Sirius glancing over his shoulder at the large willow tree right at the edge of the forest. They had all been warned not to get too close, to stay away from the tree, and he'd seen its branches twitch whenever a student got a little too near.

"So you use that willow to get to the shack?"

Remus nodded. "Yeah. Dumbledore had it all sorted by the time I got here in first year." He looked up at the castle, running his eyes along the turrets and towers. "He made all this possible for me."

Sirius reached out, a hand landing on Remus' shoulder and squeezing gently. "I'm glad. We all owe Dumbledore for that."

"He can't…we can't let him know that you three know what I am."

"You think he doesn't know?"

Remus shrugged. "I have no idea. But…but if he knew what you were trying to do…"

"It's really dangerous, isn't it?"

"Probably the most dangerous thing you three will ever do." Remus sighed. "I wish you wouldn't, you know. It's driven some wizards mad."

"I know." He put his hands in his pockets, rolling his shoulders back. "But we still want to do it, Remus. "And we will do it. I promise."

"What if something goes wrong though? If something happened to one of you, I'd never forgive myself."

"We'll be fine, Remus. We'll be careful. And we won't do any of the really dangerous stuff until we know we can do it, all right?"

"All right." But all Remus could think about was the man who had found himself unable to live as a human, after discovering the joys of being a bear. The wizard had stopped eating, had spent sleepless nights trying to think of how he could leave his wife and children and just live in the forest.

The rare chances he got to transform weren't enough, and he eventually moved to the forest near his home and lived as a bear. He spent so long in his bear form that when his family came looking for him, he had mauled them all. Two days later, three human hunters had come across the bodies and the bear, and shot him dead.

It wasn't just the process that scared Remus, it was what might happen to his friends afterwards.

There were reasons people had to register. Their mental stability was checked before they changed for the first time, and they were matched up with skilled wizards to help them through any problems.

They would have none of those advantages.

"You said you wanted to go for a run?"

Remus grinned at his friend. "Want to make it a race?"

Sirius laughed. "Like you have a chance. You seen how often me and James go running?"

"Of course I have." A grin stretched across Remus' face. "But have you ever run against a werewolf close to the full moon?"

"To the Quidditch Pitch and back?"

"You're on."

Sirius slid out of his fur cloak, bundling it up as Remus cast a spell on it to make sure the snow wouldn't get it wet. Once both boys were ready, they set off.

X X X 

Sirius returned to the common room panting, sweat dripping down his face and his hair soaked by it. Remus, on the other hand, seemed perfectly fine. There was a healthy sheen on his face, but he looked nowhere near as exhausted as Sirius.

Sirius dropped down in an armchair and, between breaths, said, "Never race a werewolf."

Laughing, Remus sat on the small sofa beside James. James just shook his head, before returning to the book he was reading. There was parchment in front of him, with scrawled notes written across it.

"What you working on?" Sirius asked, leaning over to look at the parchment.

"Just trying to work out this potion," James muttered, frowning as he looked from the book to parchment and back again. "All the directions on it are…not great. Some pretty odd ingredients we'll need to get hold of. Some of it I don't even think Slughorn would have. Look." He lifted the book, showing the page to Sirius. "Merlin's Blood picked at midnight during the red moon. What the hell does that mean?"

"Merlin's Blood is a plant carefully cultivated by some wizards," Remus muttered, sounding as if he was reciting directly from a textbook. "The petals form a droplet like shape, and they're crimson, not just red. Hence the name. They need dark, dank places to grow. I think they grow some in the forest. And the red moon is the name given to a full moon that follows a red sunset. You know, red sky at night…"

"Shepard's delight," Peter finished, glancing up from the book Remus had lent him. "What's the potion even for?"

"It's the potion that lets you see what your animal is going to be," James explained. "Depending on the animal, you need to use different methods when working towards becoming an Animagi. So it's like the first step."

"You've done your research."

James blushed as he glanced at Remus. "Well, I read your notes, actually. The potion…" He shook his head. "It really does sound difficult."

"Let's see."

James pushed the parchment towards Remus. Remus read over it, leaning back as he scanned James' hastily written notes. He grabbed a clean piece and the quill sitting beside James, and began to jot down notes.

"You guys will have to look out for the red sky, for obvious reasons. The moon sometimes appears red, too." He glanced up. "It's…something to do with Muggle science."

"Hang on," Sirius said. "Is there something Remus doesn't know?"

"Oh, no," James sighed, shaking his head. "Well, guess the world's about to end, then."

Remus opened his mouth, clamped it quickly shut and glanced over the parchment. "These are kept in the greenhouses. We might be able to sneak some out during the next lesson. Soil from the Forbidden Forest should do for this. You can get that when you get the Merlin's Blood…"

He carried on going through them, jotting down where they might acquire the items. On the last few, he came to a stop. "This is going to be harder. I doubt they even sell it in Diagon Alley…"

"What about Knockturn?" Sirius said, leaning over to have a look.

"How would we get it?" James shook his head. "Not like we can just pop over there. My folks always make sure I never step foot there."

Sirius grinned. "Luckily for you, Mum likes to take Reg shopping with her."

"In Knockturn Alley?" Peter squeaked. "Your mum shops in Knockturn Alley?"

"She…has a couple of favourite shops down there," Sirius explained, rolling his eyes. "Likes to get her jewellery and stuff for the house there. I would tell you to be careful if you ever come to the house, but quite frankly I don't think any of you ever coming to the house is a good idea. It's…not the best place."

The three of them looked at Sirius. He sighed.

"It's just…my mum loves dark objects. There are traps and stuff all over the house. You pick up something you're not supposed to, and you can get landed with a pretty bad hex." His skin flushed red. "I got covered in itchy spots for days after grabbing a shiny stone my mother had got." He rolled his eyes. "It's just best to stay away all together, if you can."

He shifted awkwardly in his seat, and James reached over to squeeze his shoulder. "You know you can stay at mine anytime you want."

"Yeah, I know. Thanks, mate." He smiled, though the look was tinged with dark memories. "Anyway. So if I write to Reg, he'll get us the stuff no questions asked. Won't even tell Mum."

Remus nodded. "Okay. So that's sorted. I think he can probably get these down there." Remus ripped off the piece of parchment, writing a few of the ingredients on the list. "Some of the others…Hogsmeade."

"You reckon?" James muttered, scanning the last few items.

"Yeah. Well, the rest is more simple. Some of it would be in Slughorn's stores, some might even be in the student ones, but I don't want to risk taking more out. We should…we should try to keep Slughorn on our side."

James nodded. "Yeah, that's a good idea. All right. Question is, how do we even get down to the village?"

X X X

The teachers, perhaps because there were less students to worry about, had seemed more relaxed over the holidays. They still patrolled the corridors, but these patrols came less often, and the night before everyone was due to return, the four boys gathered in their dormitory with James' cloak on the bed between them.

James picked up one end, running his finger behind the shimmery cloth, smiling as his finger disappeared.

"Just you and Remus?" Sirius said, staring at James. James nodded.

"It makes sense. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves, and Remus knows what we're looking out for."

"I don't like it though," Remus said, sighing. "I mean…this is stealing. Not just that, we're talking about breaking into a place."

"I already told you, we've got a list of items to leave on the counter, plus…" He reached into his pocket, pulling out a collection of gold galleons and silver sickles. "I'll leave this, too. Whatever it costs, we're still paying for it."

Remus nodded. "Okay. Okay! Well, come on, let's go."

James threw the cloak over the pair of them, and Sirius' eyes remained locked on the spot where they disappeared as he said, "Good luck."

They crept down to the Common Room, waited by the portrait hole for someone to emerge. Finally it swung open and a few Fourth Years stumbled in. James and Remus darted out, moving quickly and coming out into the corridor as the portrait of the fat lady closed.

They moved fast through the corridors, both listening out for footsteps, for patrolling teachers or the caretaker Filch and his cat Mrs Norris.

They skirted around corners, kept their footsteps as quiet as possible until they came to the castle doors. After checking every direction to make sure nothing was coming, they pulled them open.

The night air hit both of them, and Remus took a deep breath. The smells, sights and sounds hit him at once. Through the darkness, in the dim light of the almost full moon, he felt he could see every blade of grass between them and the forest. He could smell the owls flying overhead, searching for food, and he had to suppress the urge to bound out into the forest and hunt himself. He could hear the wind whistling, the creatures of the forest burrowing or hunting or running from prey.

He could smell blood.

"Remus?" James whispered. "Are you all right?"

Under the cloak, he was trembling.

"It's just…" he muttered, shaking his head. "Sorry. Just close to the full moon."

James squeezed his shoulder. "We can go back. Do this another night."

"No. No, it's fine. Come on, let's go."

Even with the doors closed, the light from the castle shut off, Remus could see James' grin.

"I'm really going to see where you go every month, aren't I?"

They darted down the steps and across the grass, barely stopping to breathe. Remus reached across James' chest, stopping him as they got close to the willow tree. He bent down, grabbing a long stick, and inched forward slowly, hand on James' cloak, setting the pace for both of them.

Near the tree, he reached forward and jabbed at a knot in the bark with the stick. The branches had begun to move, had started to swoop towards them, and James gasped as they stopped in mid-motion.

"Wow."

"Come on," Remus said, gesturing to a hole near the bottom of the tree. "Let's go."

**A/N: As always, your reviews are really appreciated. A huge thank you to everyone who has read this, and to those that had followed and added to their favourites. I'll always keep writing, but knowing there's people who read this gives me an extra push. So yeah, thank you.**


	22. Chapter 22

James had to duck his head as they walked through the tunnel, tugging on Remus' shoulder to get him to slow down. The tunnel twisted and turned, and James ran his hand along the edge, feeling tree roots when they entered, changing into hard packed mud further down. As they rounded another corner, he saw a hole. The smell that hit him was overpowering; shit and blood and the musky scent of animal.

Remus didn't seem to notice.

"Can't you smell that?"

James couldn't see anything in the darkness, but he sensed his friend tense up as they neared the hole. "That's me," he whispered, voice almost too low for James to hear. "Well, the wolf. I guess I'm kind of used to it."

James just nodded, not knowing what to say, feeling more than a little guilty for his words.

They came out into the shack and James glanced around, pulling the cloak tighter. In one corner of the room was a bundle of torn wood that looked like it could have once been a wardrobe. There was blood splattered on some of the wall, and piles of wolf dung in another corner. The walls themselves, and what little furniture there was, looking like it had been scratched to pieces.

In the dim light from the moon, coming in through the only window in the room, James could see the red blush on Remus' face as he shifted awkwardly.

"Come on," Remus said, nodding his head towards the door. James walked with him, glancing around as they came out onto the landing. Dust was thick on the floor and walls, and there were patches along the corridor where pictures had once hung. Parts of the floor were littered with broken glass, a few scraps of paper among the debris. Remus didn't say anything as they climbed down the stairs and went to the front door. There were scratches up and down it, too, and a large indent in the wood.

Remus pointed his wand at the door, muttered the spell under his breath, and they heard the tell-tale click of a door being unlocked.

"We need to remember to lock it when we go back," Remus said. "Otherwise…" He glanced over his shoulder. "I might get out."

The shack was built on a hill, the large garden around it sloping downwards to the metal fence that lined the property. They darted down, heading for the single gate. It was connected to the house by a grey stone path. The land around it was overgrown, and grass and nettles brushed against their legs as they moved.

The gate was padlocked, but nearby, further down there was a section of the fence that had been widened, the bars bent outward, just enough to let a small fourth or fifth year through. Remus nodded to it and they moved down the fence, squeezing through one at a time, Remus temporarily relinquishing the cloak. James threw it back over him as they got to the other side, and neither noticed the curtain twitch in one of the homes closest to the shack.

The street was quiet, but at the end they could see lights on in The Three Broomsticks pub.

Remus pulled James with him as they made their way down the main part of the village. The shops were dark, their wares barely visible in the wide windows made up to display whatever the shops had on offer. Above them, there were a few lights on in the small flats above the shop. Further back from the main street were cottages, the homes of people who wanted to live in the only all wizarding village in Britain.

They turned off the road, heading between houses with little of a gap between them. The street grew narrower as they walked down it, but finally they reached their destination. Remus and James stood in front of a non-descript building, a cottage that fit in perfectly with the others around it. The only difference was the small plague beside the door.

_Potions & Brews._

Remus unlocked the door easily enough with a spell, grabbing the parchment with the ingredient list written on it. He glanced down the items as James opened the door. The room they entered was small, with shelves all around containing jars of various items. Eyes rolled in them, tongues flapped uselessly. There was a counter near the far wall with a till and, behind that, small bottles and vials, the names of each one written on parchment and taped to the shelf beneath.

A sign on the till advertised _Potions made to order_.

They went around quickly, both staying beneath the cloak, Remus opening jars as James held a small black, velvet lined bag open beside him. Remus threw each item in, double checking when he turned to the next one that it was what they were looking for.

There was a price list behind the counter. Once they had gathered the required ingredients, Remus matched them up with the list and added up the cost.

James dug the money from his pocket, leaving it on the counter beside the list of things they had taken.

Once they were back on the street, Remus ensured he locked up the shop.

"Seems pretty stupid," James said, stuffing the black bag into the pocket of his cloak. "I mean, it's not hard to unlock that door, is it?"

Remus shrugged. "There's not exactly a lot of thievery here. It's one of the safest places in the UK, not just for wizards."

They quickened their pace when they came out onto the main street, only slowing down when they spotted the group gathered near one of the last houses.

"I told you, I saw one!" one man said, gesturing towards the shack. "A ghost! Not like up at the school, this was…different." He shuddered, while one of the others rolled his eyes.

"Even if it was a ghost, it was just…" He shrugged. "Well, a ghost."

"But…but…"

"Leave it alone, Robert," a woman snapped. "The Shack is haunted. We've all come to accept that now."

"But…"

The pair carried on, Remus clamping a hand over James' mouth to stop him sniggering.

"We can't get back through," Remus whispered, keeping his voice low. "Not here. Not under the cloak. Come on." He yanked James down the line of the railing, keeping an eye out for a way into the shack once they were out of sight of the wizards.

"Wait." James reached for Remus, grabbing him and pulling him back. "Remus, we can't…" He glanced over his shoulder. "They're in clear view of the door! If they see it opening and closing…"

Remus swore under his breath. The two boys walked back towards the edge of the main street, finding that the crowd had grown bigger now. Some were arguing with the man who had seen them, while others were reporting on other strange things they had seen in the house.

"I heard unnatural sounds, just last month!" one man cried, pointing at the shack. "We should burn it down!"

"And be arrested?" another scoffed. "You know, for arson and property damage."

"No one owns it!"

"Yes, they do. We just don't know who."

James glanced at Remus. He mouthed "Dumbledore," with a smile on his face. James nodded.

They walked towards the group, listening as words were thrown back and forth between those gathered.

Remus' foot connected with something, and a rock came skittering towards the group.

The man who had started it all saw. His face paled at a rate Remus didn't think was possible, his eyes growing wide. He pointed at the rock.

"Ghosts!" he cried. "They've come for us!"

A few of the villagers panicked. The group split up, some staggering towards the two boys. James and Remus backed up quickly, trying to find a way out. They were surrounded, suddenly, moving with the crowd to avoid anyone knocking into them. They clung to each other, dodging and weaving between the adults, screams and panic filling the air.

More people came out onto the street as the group neared the Three Broomsticks.

Somehow, in the commotion, Remus and James slipped out of the crowd of people and found themselves against the wall of Honeydukes.

Half of the crowd were still facing the shack, stopping Remus and James from going back the way they came.

"What do we do?"

Remus glanced up and down, as much at a loss as his friend.

The lights in the shop behind them came on, and both scampered out of the way as a shape appeared behind the display of confectionary. The door swung open.

"What is going on out here?" the man, tall with a kindly face and twinkling eyes, stared out at the group gathered on the street.

"Come on." Without thinking, James yanked Remus towards the open door. As the man stepped out, they slipped in. They moved through the shop, Remus drooling as he glanced around at the various chocolates on display. "Remus, we can't stop," James whispered, yanking his friend's sleeve.

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know!" They came to the counter, stopping and breathing slowly. Remus glanced down, gesturing to a trapdoor.

"Down there. We can…I don't know, hide out, I suppose. Sneak out in the morning."

James nodded, sweat running down his face as he glanced over his shoulder at the group now gathered around the entrance, explaining to the owner what had happened. "Well, we're not getting out that way."

Remus reached down and yanked the door open. Both boys scrambled in, Remus carefully pulling the door down as they descended into the basement.

"We should have grabbed some chocolate," he muttered. "I'm starving."

"I thought you were against stealing," James said, pulling the cloak off both of them. Remus blushed, shrugged and shifted awkwardly, glancing around. He walked towards the back of the cellar, surrounded by boxes and boxes of sweets and chocolates. "Remus, stop."

"What?" He spun around, eyes wide as he stared at James, panic filling him. James frowned, moving closer as he stared at the floor.

"There, just there," he gestured to Remus' feet, "when you stepped on it, the floor sounded…hollow."

Remus frowned, crouching down and running his hand over the dusty floor. His eyes widened when he felt something, and he pointed his wand at the floor, moved back, and whispered a spell James didn't recognise.

The floor beneath them rose.

Above them, in the shop, they heard the door close.

"Get down!" James said, gesturing to Remus. Remus didn't need telling twice. He climbed into the hole, James following closely and pulling the door shut behind him.

Both boys lit their wands as soon as they were inside. Remus lowered his, revealing a long staircase dug into the earth.

"Cool!" James flashed him a grin. "Where do you think it leads?"

Remus sighed, shook his head, and held his palm out flat. He placed his wand across it, whispered another spell, and waited as the wand spun around, still lit, until it settled on a direction. It pointed down the tunnel.

"Well, that's north," he said, shrugging as he picked up his wand. "And north is Hogwarts so, if we're lucky…"

Footsteps, coming down the stairs above them.

"Let's go," James whispered. "Don't want him to see the light through the cracks."

Remus nodded, and both boys began walking.

They took the stairs slowly, James with the cloak thrown over his shoulder, giving the eerie impression he was only half there. The steps felt like they went on forever and though they were going downwards, Remus felt his legs begin to ache.

Eventually, finally, they stepped onto flat ground. Remus let out a sigh of relief, using his wand to glance up the tunnel. It sloped downwards, gradually, and the pair began to move quicker.

"What time do you think it is?" James whispered.

"No idea. Late, though."

They had left their bed curtains closed. James had been faking a cold all day, and Remus had managed a few fake coughs by the end. If anyone asked, both boys were feeling poorly, had gone to bed early. Remus just hoped everyone in the castle was sound asleep by the time they got back.

If they ever got back.

The floor levelled out, and they quickened their pace once again.

"What if it doesn't lead to Hogwarts?" James asked, glancing at the earthen walls. "What if we just reach a dead end?"

"We turn around," Remus said, cringing as the tunnel began to twist and turn. "We head back and hope we're back before light. The villagers should be in their beds, anyway. We can get back through the shack."

James nodded, though he thought if that had to happen they wouldn't get back to the castle until way past dawn.

"At least there's no classes tomorrow," he said.

Remus wrapped his arms around himself, shaking. He took a deep breath, sniffed, and grinned. "We're almost there."

"How can you tell?"

He glanced upwards. "Because…we're under the castle. I can smell it. It has its own smell. Well, you know. Depending on where you are." He took another breath. "We're under the dungeons. Near potions. Come on."

The floor swooped upwards again and, in some parts, James found himself having to duck his head. They rounded another corner, and Remus lifted his wand up.

"Bloody hell."

The ground in front of them curved up sharply, forming a slide. Remus glanced around, moving forward as he waved his wand near the wall.

"How are we going to get up there?" James whispered, shaking his head. "Come on, Remus. We should head back."

"Wait…" There was something etched into the wall. Remus frowned. _Dissendium_. He inched forward, tapping the bottom of the slide, and muttered the word. The slide shifted, parts of it sinking inwards to form a set of stairs. He looked over his shoulder, grinning at James.

"Come on!" James said, moving with Remus to the stairs. The pair began to climb, Remus feeling a strange sense of excitement over what they had discovered.

They reached the top of the stairs and the top of the tunnel. James reached up, sliding something back and scrambling out. He put his hand down, grabbed Remus' wrists and pulled. Remus found himself emerging from the hunchback of a witch, glancing up and down the corridor as he climbed down and James pushed the hunchback back into place. Remus grinned at him, right before James threw the cloak over them.

"Right," James whispered. "Where in the castle are we?"

They moved forward, glancing around for anything that would identify where they were. Finally, Remus let out a sigh of relief.

"It's fine," he said. "I know where we are. Come on."

They scampered towards the Gryffindor tower, Remus leading the way, hearts beating madly at what they had accomplished, both of them eager to tell the other two about the tunnel leading to Hogsmeade.


	23. Chapter 23

As soon as they reached the common room, Remus wrote down the word and a brief description of how to get back to the hunchbacked witch. They stored the potions items in the dorm, Remus casting a spell around them to ensure they were secure. As soon as that was done, Remus and James climbed into their respective beds, being extra quiet as they listened to the sounds of snores all around them.

As soon as Michael and William were out of the dorm that morning, Sirius and Peter shook the other two awake. James blinked sleepily at Sirius, waving a hand at him as he tried to snuggle back down under his blanket. Remus was up almost as soon as Peter's hand was on his shoulder, tumbling out of bed to face the other two.

"James," he said, inching towards the other bed. "Come on, James, they want to know about last night!"

James sat bolt upright, his hair a worse mess than usual. He gazed around at them before reaching for his glasses on the bedside table. Once they were on, he climbed out of the bed and stretched, yawning loudly as he did so.

He winked at Remus.

"Sure you want to tell them?" he said. "I mean, it's pretty cool, and I don't think those two deserve to know."

Sirius' eyes widened at the prospect of something cool. He turned straight to Remus.

"Come on, mate, tell us what you saw!"

Remus laughed. "I think you're right, James," he said. "It's like our own little secret, isn't it?"

"Yeah. We should head to breakfast. I'm starving."

Sirius looked wild now, bouncing on his feet as he looked from one to the other. "Aw, come on, this isn't funny! What happened?"

James winked at Remus before he gathered up his clothes and headed to the bathroom. Peter sat on the end of Remus' bed, watching the other boy carefully as Sirius stepped forward.

"You're not really going to keep it quiet, are you?"

"Just tell them," James called through the door. Remus grinned, sat beside Peter and took a deep breath.

He told them everything, Sirius and Peter gasping in all the right places, listening carefully as he told them about the secret tunnel.

"Right to Honeydukes?" Sirius said, shaking his head. "Wow. That's…that's amazing!"

"We can get there and back with no one knowing!" Peter was grinning as he looked from Remus to Sirius. "We should go!"

"Not now," Remus muttered, shaking his head. "Everyone's coming back today. They'll be doing head counts."

James appeared from the bathroom, looking more awake now. "Breakfast?" he suggested, and the others nodded, getting dressed quickly before heading downstairs.

X X X 

They had a few hours before the Hogwarts Express dropped the rest of the students off in the village, just a few more hours of the castle being mostly empty.

Just a few more hours of being children.

Dumbledore let out a breath he barely realised he was holding and turned to face those gathered in his office. Professor Harpo stood beside Professor Slughorn. She was shaking, eyes red and bloodshot as she struggled to hold herself together.

The only other person present was a former student. Dumbledore remembered him clearly, as did Slughorn. The boy – Damian Whyte – had been intelligent, hitting the highest marks of his year consistently. He could have been anything he wanted, could have taught any subject at Hogwarts or written books on numerous subjects. There had always been a charm to him that seemed to draw everyone, and he was always willing to help out the younger students, always happy to work that extra mile.

He had been part of Slughorn's group, Dumbledore remembered. Part of that elite group Slughorn liked to nurture, liked to send out in the world to spread their wings and reach his fingers into various pies. And with Whyte, he had chosen well. The boy was only twenty-five, with many years of his career to go, but was already aide to the Minister of Magic. It was unlikely he would reach Minister for decades, but many had their eyes on him and many thought he would undoubtedly reach that position, in time.

Like Millicent Bagnold, another promising young witch in the ministry, Whyte had been in Ravenclaw. Whyte, even at the height of his N.E. , had always been a composed, confident young man. Now he was shaking as he stood between the two professors, wringing his hat in his hands. His face was pale, sweat glistening on every inch of skin.

"You are sure about this?"

He nodded. "They're getting…stronger, sir. Stronger and more…confident."

"Sit down, Whyte," Dumbledore said, trying to keep his voice steady. Whyte lowered himself into the chair Slughorn had pulled forward. "Three of our students? You're sure?"

Whyte's nods were short and quick, head bobbing up and down. "Yes, headmaster. All children of ministry employees."

Dumbledore closed his eyes, lifted his hand and rubbed his thumb and finger across his eyelids. "I think I know which ones." On the outskirts of London, three blocks had been destroyed. As utterly and completely as they had been during the blitz, during the dark days of the Second World War. Yet, somehow, this was worse. They had been targeted, picked out because of how they made a living. He thought of the three students who had lived close together, of the sets of parents, some of which he had taught. Of Rosie William's sweet, smiling face, the spitting image of her father and with the same fascination and love for the Muggle world. He had worked at the Ministry in Muggle Relations, working closely with the Muggle born students who would be attending Hogwarts, helping their parents understand the new world their child was entering. She had been sixteen, in the last year of her O. . A Hufflepuff with a bright future ahead of her.

George Harris had been a Ravenclaw, a Quidditch player and a cheeky student. Charming, with a lot of good friends, in his final year at the school. His mother, Rebecca Harris, had been much the same when she had been at the school. As far as Dumbledore remembered, she had been only a few years below the man who had killed her. She would have known him, too. Rebecca had been in Slughorn's club, along the Slytherin who would cause so much destruction, pain and heartbreak. She had gone to the Ministry as a researcher, working close with medi-witches to try to find counter spells and potions that would ease some of the worst curses that existed.

The last student had been a Slytherin, and according to Whyte had disappeared. They had been unable to find his body but some of the wizards that attended the scene thought that they would eventually stumble upon a body part or two. That house had been the worst hit, the centre of the destruction. They had found traces of Gregory Tock's family, including his younger sister Louise.

Both of his parents had attended Hogwarts. Two years apart, his father a Gryffindor and his mother a Ravenclaw. Both had been Aurors, had met in training and a romance had blossomed.

The boy had been nothing like either parent. Ambition and greed had run through him, though he did have streaks of the bravery and intelligence his parents had shown, there was something else in him, something darker.

Dumbledore's gaze locked on Slughorn. "Do you believe Mister Tock to be dead?"

Slughorn seemed to pale. He fell into the chair beside Whyte. "No. I tried talking to him, Albus. Really tried."

"I know." Dumbledore sighed, looping his fingers together and bowing his head. "One missing and many dead, on the last night of the Christmas holidays. It does not seem to be a coincidence."

"What do you mean?" Whyte leant forward, trembling as he tried to keep his gaze focused on Dumbledore. "Sir, the boy is…his body, we'll find it."

Dumbledore lifted his head and fixed his eyes on the young man before him. Innocence was etched in him as the wrinkles were etched in the face of the headmaster, and he felt like he could see it visibly fading. Harpo stepped forward and put a hand on the boy's shoulder, squeezing it.

"You will not find Gregory Tock's body," he said. "I am sure he is now with his…master, serving whatever purpose he wants him to serve."

"He was a student!" Whyte said, shaking his head. "A student, here, at Hogwarts…"

"A student who has been growing more and more distant." Slughorn slumped in his chair, holding his hand to his face to hide the faintest trace of tears. "As more and more of them are."

"More of them?" Whyte's jaw was slack, eyes wide as he turned from Dumbledore to Slughorn. "Can't you do something?"

"He has tried," Dumbledore said, sighing as he glanced towards the window. "Merlin knows, we have all tried. But there is a stronger influence out there promising things we cannot. All we can do is watch and reach out when we can." He turned back to look at Whyte. "And let them all know that every student of Hogwarts, past and present, has a home here. Has protection."

Whyte was shaking, shivering, tears brimming over his eyes. "All of us?"

"Yes, Whyte. All of you."

"I'm scared, Professor. The things this…this…thing is doing…"

"He is not a thing. He is a man. You must remember that, Whyte." He leant forward, fixing the younger man with his piercing blue eyes. "You must remember and remind the Minister if he forgets. He is not a thing. He is not immortal or all powerful. He is a man, and men can be defeated. Men can be reasoned with. Do not let yourself fall into the trap of thinking he is a monster."

Whyte stood, so fast that Professor Harpo stumbled backwards. He wiped the back of his hand across his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath.

"I will try to remember that, sir. I need to go back. There are still…investigations taking place."

"Remember what I said, Damian. There is always a place for you here."

A brief smile appeared on the boy's face as he dipped his head. The next words he spoke were so meek, so quiet that Harpo and Slughorn barely heard them. But to Dumbledore they were as loud as drums, reminding him of what he was working for, reminding him of what he was protecting.

"Thank you."

He headed for the fireplace, taking a pinch of floo powder from the plant pot on the mantelpiece. As he went to throw it in, Dumbledore spoke.

"And, Damian, please, call me Albus."

The boy flashed him another small smile, before throwing the powder in and stepping in after it, his voice loudly stating, "The Ministry of Magic."

He disappeared from their sight and Dumbledore let out his breath.

"What are we going to do, Albus?" Professor Harpo asked, reaching to take Slughorn's hand.

"Exactly what I said. We will keep an eye on the students and remind them there are always people in this castle who will protect them. Against anything. In the meantime, I want you to get in touch with your contacts. Anything strange or suspicious, I wish to hear about it."

She nodded.

"Horace, like I said, keep an eye on your students. I have a feeling this school is going to grow very divided in the next few years, and it will be the Slytherin students who suffer the most. You must be there for them."

Slughorn sniffed, lifted his head and gave a curt nod. "Of course. This is really happening, isn't it?"

"We are growing closer and closer to war," Dumbledore said. "But we will protect them. Hogwarts has survived many wars, none have breached its walls. We will keep it that way."

"Albus, there are students in my house I fear are already lost to us."

Dumbledore turned to Harpo. She sighed. "Some of the Slytherin students are very interested in the aspects of the dark arts I do not teach. They claim it is to know what they will fight, but I teach them what they need to know in that area."

"How are the lessons going?" Dumbledore asked. "In general, across the board?"

"The students are interested and keen, for the most part. I'm glad to say some of them have approached me with an interest in careers that will fight the dark arts."

"Keep an eye on any sixth and seventh years that show promise. They will find out sooner or later, and if we can forge a relationship with these students they might be able to help us."

"Albus!" Slughorn gasped. "You are not seriously considering dragging students into this fight, are you?"

"We may have no choice. But I will not put them on the front line." He turned back to Harpo. "Teach them what you can, anything that will help them. All of them. Even the first years."

"I promise, Albus, within a few weeks these students will be able to protect themselves. Maybe not against everything, but they will know enough."

He drummed his fingers on the table, glancing over at the phoenix sitting on his perch. Dumbledore rose slowly, crossing towards the bird and holding his arm out. Fawkes fluttered from perch to arm, and Dumbledore leant his head towards the phoenix.

"You know who I need," he whispered, lifting his arm up. Fawkes flew off and with a flutter of his wings disappeared. Dumbledore turned to the other two. "Go, both of you. The students will know by tonight."

X X X

The atmosphere in the Great Hall was strange. Remus could smell a strange sense on the air. There was the usual excitement that came with the start of a new term and the usual fear from the older students. But there was something else underlying it, focused on the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.

Close to the full moon, he could smell emotions. He couldn't always tell what, exactly, he was smelling, especially with so many different people around. But some emotions were stronger than the rest. It tended to be the most extreme emotions, fear and excitement and joy. General happiness or sadness were harder to detect, but Remus thought he could smell hints of the later from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students. And perhaps a bit of confusion, too.

They took their seats, Remus glancing over his shoulder at the Ravenclaws, trying to work out what was going on. It was something to do with the returning students, but beyond that he couldn't tell very much.

The food appeared and everyone dug in. Remus' gaze was drawn to the top table. As he absently picked at his food, he watched the teachers. Dumbledore was eating slowly, taking small bites as he scanned the room. Harpo was shovelling food into her mouth like there was no tomorrow, keeping her head down and concentrating fully on the meal. The others seemed fine, normal, talking as they usually did. Except for Slughorn.

The Potions professor was not touching his food. His gaze was firmly on his house table, a strange, sad look on his face.

Once they were finished eating, Dumbledore stood. The food disappeared as students shifted themselves to better see the headmaster, clearly expecting the usual welcome back speech they got after Christmas.

That expectation was dashed quickly by the look on his face. It was tinged with more sadness than Remus had ever seen, more than he ever thought possible on someone's face.

"As always, I sincerely hope you all had a good Christmas, wherever it was spent."

The beast inside Remus let out a whimper. His correspondence with Marcus Galois had helped him identify the aspects that belonged to the wolf, and close to the full moon, to Remus it felt like there were two parts of him fighting for control. Marcus was helping him with it, but right then it meant Remus could feel the wolf reacting, could feel its fear growing.

"But this year, that message is given even more importance, as the world outside these walls is rapidly changing."

Beside him, Peter was starting to shake. Remus glanced at his friend, to see his eyes fixed on Dumbledore, his fingers curled around a fork, clinging tightly. Remus reached out, took his free hand, and squeezed, trying to tell it was okay without using any words.

"There is a darkness growing in the world and I fear this will not be the last time I address you to tell you of sad news."

It wasn't the first either. James wasn't looking at the headmaster, but instead was staring at the table, his palm flat against it as he took a deep, slow breath. Sirius was staring hard at the Slytherin table. Some of them looked as shocked as the rest of the school, as scared and worried about what Dumbledore was saying. But a few were sitting back and trying to hide their smiles. Remus couldn't help but notice it was the older students who looked almost happy.

Severus Snape's eyes flickered back and forth to the Gryffindor table, and Remus didn't think Sirius would notice that the Slytherin student looked sick.

"Last night, there was an attack on the outskirts of London."

Gasps rose up throughout the hall. Remus turned his head sharply to look at the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. The students there were glancing up and down, looking like they were desperately trying to find someone. Two Hufflepuff fifth year girls were clinging tightly onto each other. A boy in Ravenclaw had his head in his hands.

"Three blocks were destroyed. A few escaped and the rescue operation is still continuing, with both the Ministry and Muggle officials involved." He put his hands on the table, as if he could no longer bear to stand. "There were three of our students living in the blocks attacked. Their bodies, and those of their families, have been recovered. I ask that you support each other and give help to those who may need it in these times. The students involved were Rosie Williams, George Harris and Gregory Tock."

A loud sob from the Hufflepuff table. Crying form Ravenclaw. Students turning to each other and holding on, sending comfort up and down the tables. The wolf inside Remus was pacing as fear and sadness and confusion tinged the air. The smells were almost overpowering, the wolf reacting to each. It growled and snapped and Remus began shaking, wrapping his arms around himself as he dipped his head down.

It wanted to escape. It wanted to be let out. It knew there was something out there to be feared and it wanted to either fight it or run, run and never stop. Run and find a new home because there was too much in the castle, too much it did not understand.

"Remus," James whispered, as Dumbledore continued speaking. Remus could no longer hear him, not really, but he picked up on certain words. Protection and united and light. "Remus, are you okay?"

The world swam and his stomach twisted.

"Infirmary," he gasped out, turning his body and scrambling off the bench, running for the doors and ignoring the eyes staring at his back as he went.

**A/N: As always, I really appreciate any feedback anyone gives. And a huge thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed and added this to their favourites. Really glad to know people are enjoying this story.**


	24. Chapter 24

Madam Pomfrey would not let the three boys into the infirmary. She blocked them at the door, arms crossed and a stern look on her face as Sirius begged for them to be let in.

"Remus is not up to visitors," she said. "He's very ill, boys. You can see him in a few days." With that, she stepped back inside and shut the door. The loud click of the lock echoed around the hall.

"What do we do now?" Peter whined, glancing from Sirius to James. "How do we make sure he's okay?"

"A few days," Sirius muttered. "She means until after the full moon, doesn't she?"

James nodded. "Of course she does. I'm going to the library, finish the homework I have left." He glanced out the window. It was dark outside, nothing visible except the stars and the growing moon. "There's nothing we can do, Pete. Just got to wait."

"Homework." Sirius said the word like it was dirty. "Ugh. Guess I'll have to join you, I've still got a few bits left."

The three headed for the library, silent as they walked. The portraits were going from one frame to another, whispering among themselves. One portrait, which showed a woman with long blonde hair sitting beneath a willow, constantly with her head in her hands, was weeping openly. Every so often she'd let out a wail that could be heard even around the corner.

But the library, in contrast to the chattering sound of the portraits, was silent. A few students sat, dotted around at different tables, heads buried in books. The portraits in there were all of former librarians, and they all remained silent, keeping a watchful eye over those in the room as they had in real life. The boys tried to sit away from any of the portraits. They often acted as the librarian's eyes and ears, telling her when a student looked like they were about to deface a book or shushing students whose voices grew louder than was allowed.

James yanked a few books off the shelves on the way to their favourite table. Located right at the back of the library, the table sat underneath one of the high, arched windows.

There was a low buzz around the other tables, discussions that even the librarian and the portraits couldn't put a stop to. The students wanted and needed to talk, to discuss the events that had been revealed to them and try to work out what it meant.

James opened a book at random and placed it on the table, eyes snapping from Peter to Sirius.

"This is wrong," James muttered, eventually, shaking his head. "Whatever's happening out there…"

"Is something we can't stop," Sirius said, glancing nervously around. "This isn't some game, James. I think we should keep the sneaking around to a minimum."

Peter nodded his agreement.

"You have a point." James drummed his fingers on the table. "We can't do anything. Yet."

"Yet?" Sirius scoffed. "I've met these people, James." He'd lowered his voice, even more than was needed. "Merlin, my parents are these people. It's pureblood fanatics who will stop at nothing to see Muggles gone from our world completely. I don't think Mum's involved that deeply, but…" He looked around again. "I'm sure Malfoy is. But there's nothing we can do. They're dangerous."

"Malfoy looked smug," James said, staring at the table. "I thought they'd left us alone because they were busy with school. What if it's because they were busy with something else?" His eyes snapped up, locking onto Sirius. "Andromeda would know, wouldn't she?"

"I don't know." Sirius began picking at the flakes of wood on the table. "She's…well, let's just say I think she's close to getting disowned."

"Disowned? By who?"

He shrugged. "Her parents. My parents. Her sisters."

"But…but she's their family!" James looked shocked, mouth hanging open and eyes narrow. "Sirius…"

"She loves a Muggle," he said, a smile creeping up on his face. "As soon as they've graduated, Narcissa will marry Lucius, Bellatrix will marry an ugly git like their parents want and Andromeda," he laughed, "Andromeda, I think, is going to put her foot very firmly down."

"What then?" Peter glanced up from the book in front of him, staring at Sirius. "I mean, it's still her family, right? Would they really disown her?"

"Yes. And she's offered me somewhere to stay when she gets her own home."

"Aw, Sirius. You know you can always stay with me."

"Not yet, I can't." He took a deep breath. "There's blood magic on the house. Any Black child under the age of fifteen has to be at the house at least once every six weeks. There's a spell only the parents know that means they can sort of delay it, if we're at Hogwarts." He dropped his head. "It was put in as a preventative measure, when the children of rich wizards got kidnapped frequently. If Mum activates it and I'm not there, it sends out a powerful tracking spell. It's why my delightful cousins used to have to come over so often."

"Merlin, that's cruel," Peter said, shaking his head.

"A lot of the rich families have it," Sirius explained. "It stops us running away and, well, kidnapping used to be a huge problem."

"I've heard of it," James said. "But a lot of wizard families have moved away from the huge houses they used to live in. The spells deactivate once there are no more with that surname living there."

"Families like mine tend to still have them," Sirius continued, for Peter's benefit. "The ones obsessed with bloodlines and names. It's a status symbol. Might as well have a sign hanging outside that says we were important enough to have our children kidnapped for ransom." He rolled his eyes and sank down in his seat, crossing his arms as he stared at the table. "Lucius and Narcissa will be gone at the end of the year, Bella the year after. Who knows what they'll get up to once they're out of here."

"But why would the Slytherins be so happy about it?" Peter was leaning on the table, arms crossed as his eyes flickered from James to Sirius. "One of the students was a Slytherin."

"And Dumbledore said their bodies were recovered," Sirius muttered. "They seemed awfully happy about one of their own being dead."

"Maybe he didn't fit in," James suggested. "Maybe he wasn't like the others. Could be he actually liked Muggles."

"Are you stupid?"

The three boys turned to look at the nearest bookcase. Lily stepped out from behind it with a few books clasped to her chest. Her red hair was tied back, wisps of it falling out and around her face. Alice stood beside her, soft brown hair falling around her face. It had been Lily who had spoken, but the next words came from Alice.

"Tock was one of the worst," she said, putting a hand on Lily's arm and gently pushing her forward. "He had it in for Muggles. Like, really badly. I'm surprised he hasn't been expelled with some of the stuff he's done." The two girls sat down, Lily fidgeting for a while before dropping the books onto the table. She let out soft sigh.

"Like what?" James asked.

"Like charming a bludger to follow one boy around the Quidditch Pitch during a Gryffindor – Ravenclaw match."

James frowned. "We would have heard if that happened. Or seen it for ourselves."

"Not if it happened before we were here," Lily snapped. "He cursed a Muggle girl the year before we arrived. She had to stay in the infirmary for a week."

"Not to mention Muggle duelling," Alice added, rolling her eyes. "Picking fights with anyone he thought deserved it. Not just Muggle-borns, but people who didn't have the right name, the right family."

"How do you know all this?" James was frowning at them both, eyes flickering from one to the other. Lily dipped her head.

"Alice's cousin told her," she said. "When he…he…" She took a deep breath before her head snapped up. "When he cursed me."

"Cursed you?" Sirius leant forward. "What did he do, Lily?"

Tears filled her eyes but she composed herself before she answered. "Freckles and spots spelling out Mudblood on my face." She spat the word out, cringing even as she said it.

"We didn't see that."

"Of course you didn't!" Alice snapped. "Lily went to the infirmary straight away."

"Okay, we get the picture," James said. "He's a typical Slytherin."

"No, he's not!" Lily's face went bright red as she glared at him. "They're not all like that, Potter. And even the ones who are…he's much worse."

"I forgot your little crush on Snape," he sneered, shaking his head. Her face went even darker as she drew in quick, sharp breaths.

Alice reached out, putting a hand on Lily's shoulder.

"It doesn't explain why they were looking so smug," Sirius said, clearly trying to draw attention away from the way James and Lily were staring at each other.

It worked. Lily huffed but her shoulders slumped and the colour in her cheeks dulled as she turned towards him. "What if he's not dead?" She lowered her voice even further. "What if he's gone to join whoever is doing this?"

None of them had anything to say to that. The boys sat back, clearly contemplating her words, until after a few moments she spoke again.

"How's Remus, anyway? He didn't look well."

"He's not." Sirius glanced at the other two boys before turning back to her. "He's going to have to stay in the infirmary a few days. Madam Pomfrey won't let us see him."

"Probably because you'd set the place on fire trying to cheer him up," Alice said, clearly trying to interject a bit of light-heartedness into the conversation. "Maybe she'll let us visit."

"I doubt it," James muttered, grabbing the books and putting them into a pile before standing.

"If you try and if she does, take him some chocolate," Sirius said, grinning at them both as he followed James' lead and got to his feet. "Remus loves chocolate."

Lily smiled back at him. "Okay, will do."

The three boys left the library, James mouth set in a frown as they stepped into the corridor and made their way back towards the Common Room.

"Why do you and Lily argue so much?" Sirius asked, shaking his head. "I don't get it."

"She's friends with Snape," James replied, scowling at the empty corridor ahead of them. "How can she be friends with a Slytherin?"

"They were friends before Hogwarts," Peter piped up. "Maybe he helped her."

"Helped her? That git can't help himself wash his own damn hair."

Sirius laughed, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "True. But Lily…she hasn't grown up in our world. She doesn't know Slytherins are evil, slimy gits."

"You'd think after a year and a half she'd learn. Where's this come from, anyway? You've never stuck up for Evans before."

Sirius shrugged. "Remus is friends with her. He gets along with her and I'm sure he'd be happy if we could, too."

"Remus would have mentioned something."

James had sped up, putting him a few steps in front of the other two, but when Sirius reached out and grasped his shoulder, he stopped.

"You really think he would have?"

James frowned, head tilted forward as he looked at the ground. "She hates me, Sirius. Seriously. She's had it in for me since the first day." He shrugged his friend's hand off and turned towards him. "And, come on, she's not that great, is she? She looks down on us because we like having fun. Let's face it, me and Evans aren't ever going to get along."

"Fine, fine." Sirius lifted his hands up as Peter glanced from one boy to the other. "But, well, we could try to be civil around her, couldn't we? For Remus?"

"Fine. I'll try. For Remus."

Sirius clapped him on his back. "That's all we ask, my friend. That's all we ask."

X X X

The snow was melting in places, the feet of so many students turning it to slush. James placed one careful foot in front of the other, broomstick clutched tightly in his hand. It was still cold and there was still more snow to come, snow that would cover the paths their feet had made and wipe away traces of the joy the students had had in the blanket that covered the grounds.

He reached the Quidditch Pitch in one piece, glad he hadn't slipped. Not on the grounds, anyway, but he had seen the other Gryffindor players training over the holidays, the ones that had stayed behind. And he was sure the others would have found some spot near their homes, some place where they could fly to their heart's content and practice their moves.

With everything that had been going on, James hadn't thought of picking up a broom since the last training session with the team. But with Remus in the infirmary, his homework done, and Sirius and Peter still working on theirs, the urge to fly had filled him. Sirius had offered to come, but James had waved him away.

"You've got homework."

Usually Remus would be there to help them, to point out the mistakes. He helped Peter more than the other two, but it was always handy having his notes around for the classes Sirius and James hadn't paid attention in.

James pulled the box containing the balls from the storage cupboard. He let one of the bludgers go, and leapt onto the broom, rising easily up into the air and feeling the wind through his hair, feeling like fingers running through it, something that always relaxed him.

The bludger flew aimlessly for a while, before it started for him. Unless hit, the bludger would simply go for the fastest object it could sense. James set to work dodging it, relishing the freedom that flying brought.

As he rose higher, he caught sight of the hospital wing. The ball, rushing towards him, made him dip back down.

Maybe, he thought, Sirius had been right. Lily and Remus did seem to get along well, and if he trusted her, then James figured she couldn't be all bad.

He swerved to avoid the bludger, bringing the broom around to face the ball. It had whizzed past him and curved around, and now sat hovering directly in front of him. James took a deep breath, lowered himself to the broom and began to fly to the bludger.

Lily, he knew, was a clever and intelligent witch. She'd excelled in every class they had, even without the basic building blocks the wizard children had. Perhaps, he thought, if he was nice to her, she'd help out with Potions, the one class he really struggled with.

He shook the thought from his head as he yanked his broomstick upwards, flying vertically to avoid the bludger. It carried on, travelling its path.

James levelled the broom.

Lily wouldn't help him, no matter how civil he was. She hated the fact that Sirius and James sometimes disrupted lessons, the fact that they found ways to have fun when Binns was droning on and on. Plus she was friends with a Slytherin and James really couldn't wrap his mind around that. Why would anyone want to be friends with Snape? He was a stuck up, slimy git. Intelligent, yes, but James sometimes wondered where that intelligence would lead him.

James had a fair few years before he had to make any sort of decision in regards to a job, but he already knew what sort of thing he wanted to do. The things happening in the Wizarding World, what he and Sirius had seen in the forest, they all just served to make him more determined. James was approaching thirteen, but he already knew he was going to fight Dark Wizards. Whether it was as an Auror or something else, that was a decision for later.

But some part of his gut felt that he would one day be standing opposite Severus Snape. He disliked and distrusted the Slytherin because somewhere, deep down inside, he knew that eventually, one of them would die and the other would live. He had no basis for the feeling, no reason to think it was true, but he had seen Snape in their Defence, Charm and Transfiguration classes, had seen him lingering near the Forbidden Section of the library, and saw the people he hung around with in his own house. His bad feelings about the other boy grew every time he saw him, and James felt that it wasn't unlikely for Snape to one day follow Gregory Tock.

He came to a stop above the top of the stadium, looking out over the forest.. The leaves rustled as the wind brushed them. From where he was, the forest looked peaceful to James, beautiful even. But he couldn't shake from his mind what he had witnessed in its trees.

McGonagall seemed better, but sometimes in class, when they were working on a new spell or quietly reading, James would see her staring out the window at the forest, fear flickering through her eyes. And now, if Lily and Alice were right, Tock may have joined up with whoever was doing it all. With the people who had killed hundreds of Muggles.

He turned around and found himself facing the castle, staring at where Dumbledore's office was. Whatever was going on, James knew the headmaster would protect them.

He heard the bludger coming back and tilted himself, letting it whizz closely past him before he grabbed the ball and began to fly back towards the ground.


End file.
